The Broken Sun
by DarkStarShadow
Summary: -COMPLETE- Set immediately following Ronny on Empty II. Andrew Hartford is going out of his way to prevent the Rangers from retrieving the next Jewel, and his motive is one bound to ruin Mack's life forever. An alternate take on Things Not Said.
1. Chapter Zero: Our Hallow's Eve

"_Hey guys, look at Mack! He's doing the robot!"_

Laughs rose up from the group of costumed superheroes as Mackenzie Hartford, one of their own, began doing the strange mechanical dance in his cardboard robot suit. His father Andrew Hartford, who had quickly thrown together a mad scientist's getup, stared in shock from afar, unaware that his son had made his costume so quickly. The young man hadn't even decided on his costume by that morning, and the day had been eventful enough to keep production of the somewhat elaborate suit hard to get to during the day.

Perhaps he had been concealing his costume idea until the party, Andrew wondered to himself.

Mack looked over at his surprised dad and smiled happily, then went back to dancing with the group.

"Sir, I must say that I was impressed at the speed in which the Rangers got this entire party completed in." Spencer, the Hartfords' resident butler who had dressed in an admiral's uniform, commented. "And their costumes are top notch as well! Master Mack's is very elaborate for the amount of time he had to make one."

"I agree. I'm just glad to see them all in good health after today's events." Hartford replied.

"As am I." Spencer smiled. "Ah, here comes Rose."

Rose, who was dressed as a pink catgirl, walked over to the two and smiled. "Hello Mr. Hartford, Spencer." A quick smile was flashed to both.

"Hey Rose. Do you need something?" Hartford asked.

"Well, I saw you two just standing over here, and I was gonna come over and get you guys out here dancing. It's your party too."

"Oh, Miss Rose, my dancing days are long done. Besides…this is not the sort of music I dance to." Spencer replied.

"Ah, well…I'm not a good dancer…I wouldn't want to embarrass you guys in front of the group you've gathered…and anyways, this is your party." Hartford replied.

"Oh, those're all bad excuses!" Rose replied. "C'mon, this is your party too!" She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out.

Mack continued dancing until he bumped into Ronny, who was dressed as a vampire, knocking her out of her groove. "Oh! Sorry. Hard to see where I'm going in this costume." Mack commented nervously.

"Hey! No big deal, Cardboard-Tin Man." Ronny joked. "Care to dance with me?"

"Sure." Mack replied. They began to dance together to the music playing above, and Mack felt the urge to ramble on overcome him. "Today, I, uh…I was very worried about you."

"You were? Why?"

"Well, we didn't know where you were because my dad wouldn't tell us, and then we didn't know what was happening to you, and you were alone the whole time and…well, I started to worry about if we were going to get to you in time."

"Well, you guys did, didn't you?" Ronny smiled. "Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I know…" Mack smiled. "I shouldn't be so worried about you. I mean, you can take care of yourself. It's just that…well, I know you would be worried if it were me who was missing, or Tyzonn, or Rose, or any of us, really."

"Well, you're right. I would be quite worried if any of you guys went missing and we couldn't get a hold of them." She hugged Mack as best as she could. "Thanks for the concern, though."

"You're welcome. How are you feeling now?"

"Like a million bucks!" Ronny replied. "Now, let's stop talking and just dance!"

"Don't have to tell me twice." Mack smiled widely and broke into another round of the robot dance.

Nearby, Dax, who was decked out in the same mildly provocative 'leather daddy' costume he wore last year, scoped out the area for someone to dance with. Most girls hovered around Will or were entranced by Tyzonn's peculiar brand of dancing, and finding a dance partner of his own was proving to be difficult.

His eyes seemed to follow a young woman whom he had been watching ever since the party started. She seemed to be addicted to the cider and cider donuts, and seemed to be more interested in the mansion itself than the party. Her long black hair sat loose upon her shoulders, her face hidden behind a blue-feathered, bird-like mask. Her long navy Chinese dress stood out with gold feathers embroidered into it, and a pair of black angel wings were strapped to her back.

Dax watched her walk down the hallway and back into the main party room before striking up the courage to approach her. He quickly and stealthily snuck up beside her. "Hello there."

The woman remained silent, content on chewing on her donut.

"…You wanna dance?"

She looked at him coldly. "I don't dance."

"Ah, c'mon! Why're you here then?"

"I'm…here with friends." Her reply seemed too slow for him.

"Well then, we can just chill out, right?"

The woman deeply sighed, becoming increasingly annoyed with Dax. "Fine, you wanna dance?" She finished off her donut quickly. "Let's dance." She fiercely grabbed Dax's hands and began forcefully dancing with him.

"Whoa! You're feisty!" Dax commented as they danced into a corner.

Ronny yawned, causing Mack to frown. "Tired already?"

"Ya know, Robot Boy, just because you can dance the night away doesn't mean I can. I've had a long day." She winked.

"I know, I'm just teasing." Mack smiled. "Get to bed if you're gonna go."

"You sure you're okay with that?" Ronny asked slyly, poking the box above where his stomach was.

"I'll…go find Rose or someone…"

"Well, I think Rose's preoccupied already…" Ronny seemed to gesture behind Mack, where Rose could be seen dancing with a reluctant Hartford. "He sure knows how to cut a rug…" Ronny sarcastically commented in a tone that suggested that she was trying to be humorous. "I should be trying to count some sheep, though. Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow."

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Ronny walked over to Tyzonn and hugged him tightly before walking upstairs. Mack felt empty for a moment as the lack of a dancing partner became evident.

Hartford watched Ronny go upstairs, then thought of a way to get out of partying. "Rose, I hate to cut this short, but I'd like to start deciphering that tablet before I get to bed, alright? Why don't you go dance with Mack?"

"Oh? Sure!" Rose smiled. "Good luck!" She walked over to Mack as Hartford departed.

"Have a good time dancing, sir?" Spencer asked.

"I'd rather be getting this done than spending time dancing." Hartford replied as he made his way downstairs. Spencer followed him.

"And I suppose you wonder why you've yet to find a suitable mate with that sort of attitude." Hartford looked up, giving Spencer a dirty look. "I am just saying, sir, that dance skills are important in the pursuit of a woman these days."

Hartford pulled off his headgear and looked down, shaking his head. "As much as it bothers me that I haven't found a good wife and good mother for Mack, right now isn't the time to be worrying about things like that. We have the Corona Aurora to protect."

"Then perhaps you should put in some thought for the future…?" Spencer commented as Hartford set up his translation guide on the computer.

"I'm trying to concentrate, Spencer." Hartford blew him off, and Spencer took the hint, making his way back upstairs.

Hartford began his studying of the pictographs and hieroglyph translations, and eventually one picture seemed to stand out and pierce him in the chest. His eyes widened as a feeling of dread overcame him. He gripped the edge of the counter tightly as he recognized the legendary artifact depicted. "I…hoped you would be last…" Hartford muttered to himself, his voice shaking.

Upstairs, Mack watched as everyone slowly made their way to their respective places; Dax and his dance partner soon parted ways as Dax left for his room on the second floor, Tyzonn grew tired of dancing and candy corn and departed for his own room, Rose briefly danced with him before deciding to do trigonometry until she passed out in her room, and Will had collected the numbers of all the sexy witches and nurses who had clamored around him before the entire gang split.

One by one, everyone but Spencer had left Mack alone in the party room, and Spencer happily turned the music off. "Shouldn't you be heading off to bed as well, Master Mack?" He asked.

"I'm just…looking around…" Mack replied. "Is this the biggest party we've ever had here?"

"To my recollection, I believe so." Spencer replied.

Mack's voice seemed to shift to a more innocent and vulnerable tone. "Have we…had a lot of parties here?"

Spencer gave Mack an annoyed look. He recognized that tone of voice, and he was not prepared to deal with it at this time of night. "Now listen to me, young man, I know where this conversation is going, and I will not continue it any further." Spencer replied, cleaning up the mess left by several partygoers regarding the punch bowl.

"…Right." Mack voice switched back to normal, and he began to walk upstairs to get his costume off.

"To answer your question, Master Mack, we've had several parties here, mostly holiday occasions." Mack nodded to let Spencer know he heard him before continuing up the stairs.

Several hours later after a long night's rest, Spencer awoke to begin the day's chores by making the Rangers and Hartford breakfast. On his way out, he spotted Mack, who was still in the clothes he had worn the day before, lying in the hammock outside, staring up at the still night sky. Spencer frowned and made his way outside.

"Master Mack, have you been out here all night again?" He asked, taking Mack's attention away from the starlit sky.

"I've just been thinking again." Mack replied, slowly sitting up. "…What would you do with the Corona Aurora?"

"I would wish for the collective happiness of the residents of the mansion…and for you all to not be so messy." Mack nodded, and began to speak, but Spencer stopped him by setting a firm grip on his shoulder. "And I know what your wish would be, Master Mack, so you needn't speak it."

"I'm that predictable, huh?" Mack asked.

"Yes, you are. Now, go to sleep and stop worrying about things you and I cannot control."

"…Alright." Mack lied back in the hammock, but Spencer frowned and he noticed it. "…What?"

"It's still quite brisk out here. I'd hate for you to catch a fever."

"Spencer, I could stand out here in the middle of January in my underwear with snow up to my kneecaps, and my nose wouldn't even run!" Mack replied as he got up. "But I'll go in if it makes you feel better."

"Thank you for at least listening to me, then, even if you're averse to the idea."

"Anytime, Spencer." Mack smiled. "Hey, the light for the stairs downstairs is still on…did dad ever go to bed?"

"Oh, it is?" Spencer looked; Mack was correct. The light usually turned on for those traversing into the basement and into the Command Center was still on. "I'll go check to see if he passed out again."

"Good night, Spencer." Mack said.

"Good morning to you, Mack." Spencer replied as he made his way to check on Hartford.

Downstairs, Spencer found Hartford asleep in his chair, still in most of his costume, sitting in front of the large screen. A prompt box was up, waiting for Hartford's confirmation.

Spencer lightly tapped Hartford on the shoulder, and he violently jerked out of his sleep. "Huh? What?" Hartford asked in a hazy stupor. He looked up and looked at Spencer. "What time is it?"

"It's quarter after five in the morning, sir. You fell asleep down here again."

"…Oh." Hartford replied, slowly waking up. "…How was the party?"

"It was a success, sir. The Rangers all looked as happy as they could be after yesterday's events."

"Good." Hartford smiled.

"I suppose I don't have to send you off to bed as well?"

"…Mack again?" Hartford asked, sounding concerned.

"I found him stargazing in the hammock again, as usual."

Hartford sighed. "That's the second time in two months."

"I am concerned for him as well, sir. He's having these moments in closer intervals. Perhaps we should divulge a little truth to him?"

Hartford looked over at the tablet. "…Perhaps we might have to do so sooner than I wanted to…"

"Perhaps you could explain this while I do my morning work, sir?" Spencer asked.

"Of course." He took his lab coat off and grabbed the tablet, following Spencer upstairs.

Upstairs in his room, Mack felt the urge to claw his way back outside. He could only imagine feeling comfortable in his hammock, reading a book or stargazing. He couldn't stand his room, the walls, he felt caged and alone, even when knowing that his best friends were all within walking distance from him.

This feeling had plagued him as far back as he could remember…a timeline which still haunted him by its briefness. A little flash here and there, but nothing enough to make him feel content that he wasn't still a failure for making up for what he lacked.

That feeling that he was letting everyone down was killing him, and the pulsing in his chest didn't help as the tears welled up in his eyes.

He flopped down face-first on his bed and cried silently, as the pulsing grew stronger and made him feel increasingly numb to everything around him until he fell dormant, resting soundly in a deep sleep as the tears rolled down his face.

In the room farthest from Mack's, Ronny's eyes shot open as her internal clock sounded off. She sat up, wide-eyed and ready for a new day. She slipped on her yellow bunny slippers with the cute red eyes and nearly made her way out her door.


	2. Chapter One: The Garnet Sun

Ronny Robinson sighed contently as she walked out of her bedroom in the Hartford Mansion in her pajamas on this unusually warm fall day. The previous day's events had given her a fresh look at life, and she was ready to take on anything the day might throw her. She walked down the hallway humming a cheery tune, past the other rooms belonging to her fellow teammates.

The door to her right opened; out walked her friend and team partner Will, who smiled. "You a little cheery today, eh Ronny?" He asked.

"Well, I wouldn't be anything at all today if it weren't for you, Will." Ronny replied, smiling back. "You heading down for breakfast right now?"

"Yup." Will replied. They continued their trek downstairs together until they spotted Hartford talking to Spencer in the living room, holding the tablet.

They leaned around the corner slightly and watched the conversation unfold. Neither of them could make out the words, but they could tell that the dialogue was obviously stressful.

"Hey Will, you think you can listen in on them for a second?" Ronny asked.

"It's none of our business…" Will replied bluntly.

"But…he's holding the tablet, and it looks like they're talking about it. Can you please?"

"You're such a nosy person sometimes." Will complained before giving in and using his super hearing to spy on them.

"_Spencer, we can't let them pursue this Jewel. You know what it would mean."_

"_I do, sir. But as much as I sympathize for you, you have repeatedly said to them that this is their job. Don't you think they'd get a little suspicious? Don't you think they're already a little suspicious?" Spencer's tone seemed to be that of a mother scolding her son, which had become uncommon in the last few weeks until now._

"_But I've…" Hartford sighed. "I really don't want to do this. I know it could mean the end of the world, but as long as this Jewel remains untapped, everything will be fine. We'll just get to it last."_

"_And by then, you'll be more unwilling to go through with it."_

_Hartford sighed. "I suppose you're right…it doesn't make a difference in the long run…but for now…we pretend like this conversation never happened."_

Will gave her a look as Hartford turned to leave. "Quick, the other way." Ronny nodded.

As Hartford walked out, he noticed Will and Ronny at the other end of the hallway to his right. "Good morning." He said.

"Morning, sir." Will replied.

"Good morning, Mr. Hartford." Ronny added.

"I see you two are up bright and early."

"Couldn't sleep much. Yesterday's excitement kept me going all night." Will replied.

"Easy for you to say. I just collapsed once we got back." Ronny commented.

"You two stay out of trouble, got it?"

"Yes sir!" Hartford walked his way downstairs to the lab.

"So what were they saying…?" Ronny whispered as they walked towards the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, the two were outside on the frown lawn enjoying a meal of sausage and omelets and a tall glass of lemonade, still chattering on. Will told her the entire dialogue, and they became lost in a spiral of theories.

"I mean, seriously, why would Hartford want us to not get the Jewel, after all that hard work? Will, I think we just walked in at the wrong time." Ronny said.

From behind Ronny, Tyzonn popped up holding a plate of veggies smothered in a hollandaise sauce, a fork plunged into the stalk of a broccoli floret. "Hello, mind if I join?" He asked Ronny coyly.

"Sure!" Ronny replied, and the Mercurian gladly took to sitting next to her.

"Mind if I listen in on your debate? You two seem to be really going at it…I love a good debate." Tyzonn said, babbling a bit before shoving a hunk of broccoli in his mouth.

"Of course. In fact, you can join in." Will replied.

"…I can?" Tyzonn sounded highly intrigued.

"Yeah."

"Well…I don't know what's going on…"

"We'll fill you in," Ronny replied. "what's going on is that earlier this morning, Will and I overheard a conversation-"

"No, I heard the conversation, and I just told you about it." Will corrected her.

"Whatever. Anyways, Will says that Hartford was telling Spencer that he doesn't want us getting the Jewel that's connected to the tablet you guys recovered yesterday."

Tyzonn appeared to have nearly choked on the hunk of cauliflower in his mouth upon hearing what Ronny said. He quickly swallowed it and continued. "You're serious? Why would he say that?"

"That's what I said to Will!" Ronny replied, throwing her hand up in the air, then looking over at Will as if to say 'I told you so!'.

"I'm just telling you what I heard." Will replied.

"What else did he say?" Tyzonn asked as he shoved a baby carrot in his mouth.

"Well, he sounded like he knew about the Jewel. I mean, we all know about the Jewels, but he sounded like he really knew about it…maybe it where it is."

"Wow. That's strange."

"He then compromised and said that he'd go get it last."

"Last? Why last?" Tyzonn asked.

"That's what I said. The order of our retrieval of the Jewels shouldn't matter at all, so why does it?"

"Hm…" Tyzonn set his plate in his lap and placed his hand to his chin in thought. "Well…even if there's no reason to assume anything, it does look a little suspicious that Hartford seems to be hogging the tablet. He wouldn't even let Rose take a look at it yesterday, remember?"

"Yeah, that was weird." Ronny replied. "Maybe he really is trying to hide this Jewel…"

"But why?" Will asked. "Why is this specific Jewel so much different?"

"I think we should investigate further." Tyzonn replied. "Spying on Mr. Hartford is the only way we're going to find out the truth."

Down in the lab, Mack snuck up on Hartford and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump. Hartford turned around and weakly smiled at Mack. "Hi dad!" Mack said with a cheery tone.

"Oh…hi Mack. Do you need something?" Hartford looked more shaken than he should have.

"Just came down to surprise you. Today's kinda starting out slow." Mack replied.

"Oh. I see. Well, I'll be upstairs for breakfast in a few minutes, okay?"

"Alright!" Mack ran upstairs. Hartford sighed deeply and set aside the mechanism he was tinkering on.

Upstairs, Tyzonn, Ronny, and Will brought their empty plates and glasses to the kitchen, then decided to chill out in the living room.

Dax walked in shortly after, plopping himself on the couch in front of the TV. "Hey guys! What's up?" The trio quickly talked amongst themselves, then got up and sat around Dax as he set up his video game.

"We think something's up with Hartford." Ronny whispered in his ear.

"Whoa, what do you mean?" Dax shouted, provoking Ronny to cover his mouth and Tyzonn to shush him.

"Man, you gotta be quiet about this!" Will whispered harshly at him.

"Why? What's going on?" Dax asked with a lowered tone.

"Will overheard Hartford talking to Spencer about him not wanting us to get the Jewel that is mentioned in the tablet you guys got yesterday." Ronny replied is a similarly hushed tone.

"After all our hard work…after having to leave Ronny to die for it…" Tyzonn added.

"Well, that doesn't sound right…did he say why?" Dax asked.

"No, he just said that he'd rather we either got this Jewel last or we didn't get it at all. Spencer then told him that he knew he'd have to get this Jewel…it sounds like he knows where it is, but he doesn't want us to get a hold of it."

"But what if somebody else does? We have to at least find out what it is so we can protect it, right?" Dax asked.

"But he's not letting anyone get close to the tablet, not even Rose." Tyzonn replied.

"Hm…maybe we should talk to Rose about this. Maybe she might have some ideas."

"Yeah, good idea." Ronny replied. "We take a break until Rose gets back from England later today."

Meanwhile, out in the Egyptian desert…

"Kamdor, why won't you tell me what the plan is?" Miratrix whined. "We lost the tablet to the Rangers, and now we're wandering this sandpit aimlessly looking for something that you won't tell me about!"

"Shut it, Miratrix! You're breaking my concentration." Kamdor said as he stopped walking. "The tablet was merely a slab that told of the Garnet of Ra and its former location, where there might be a clue as to where it is now. However, if I am correct, I have a good feeling as to where it now resides without relying on the hidden location."

"Then why didn't we go there first?" Miratrix snapped, thoroughly pissed.

"Because the treasures of Heliopolis are hidden underneath the sand! Besides, although I feel a resonating energy rising up from the ruins of Heliopolis just over these dunes, they may be lingering signatures like the ones where the tablet was were. The Garnet was a very powerful treasure, and I don't doubt that anything that had come into contact with it wouldn't have possibly absorbed some of the energy it radiated. However, the strongest energy I'm sensing in relation to the Jewel is coming from Heliopolis. C'mon, let's stay the course; I doubt the Rangers will be following us any time soon."

"Right." Miratrix replied. "Like they've never suddenly popped up before…" She muttered.

Back at the Hartford Mansion…

Rose returned and found the rest of the group, sans the Sentinel Knight and Mack, waiting for her. "Oh, hey guys! What's up?" She asked.

"We think Hartford's keeping us from getting the next Jewel." Dax spat out.

"Way to be secretive about it…" Ronnie quipped.

"You think?" Rose replied in a snotty tone. "Why do you think I took a quick break last night to go visit my family? I was bored stiff because Hartford wouldn't let me within fifty feet of that tablet."

"We think he's purposely keeping any of us from going to get this Jewel, and not because he wants to decipher the tablet himself." Will stated.

Rose stared at him with widened eyes. "Well, that's a new one. What's this about?"

"Out to the front lawn." Will said, and the quintet walked out to the grassy knoll out in front of the mansion.

Rose sat down first as the group sat around her. "What's this about?"

"This morning, Will overheard Hartford talking to Spencer about how he wants us to not get this Jewel or for us to get at the very end, almost as if he knows where it is." Ronny stated.

"You're kidding."

"Yeah, after almost sacrificing Ronny to get that tablet, he doesn't want us to pursue getting this Jewel." Tyzonn added.

"He won't let us know where it is either, so anybody could get their hands on it!" Dax chirped in.

"We have to find a way to either get Hartford to tell us about the Jewel or we have to figure it out ourselves." Will stated.

"It's obvious that it's going to come down to us spying on him or us figuring out the tablet on our own somehow." Rose said. "I was thinking about this earlier, in fact. I was thinking of sneaking down to the lab and memorizing the tablet…I think that would work…I can stand down there, invisible, for as long as I want! I'll go do that right now, in fact." Rose smiled as she used her invisibility skill and made her way down to the lab.

A few moments later, Mack jogged up to them, seemingly oblivious to everything. "Hey guys! What's going on?"

"Sit down." Will said.

Rose slowly walked down to the lab, making sure to not make any noise. As she arrived, she noticed Hartford sitting in his chair, slumped over as he talked to Spencer. She walked over to the tablet and began memorizing it, but she also took the time to eavesdrop.

"Sir, you should at least send the Rangers to chase whomever is going after the Jewel, even if you don't send them out to retrieve it." Spencer said.

"It doesn't matter, Spencer. They'll find it. I've trained them too well." Hartford replied in a gloomy tone.

"…But I thought you said it wasn't there?" Spencer replied, sounding confused. Rose looked over, wide-eyed.

"It's still there…part of it. I can't afford for them to bring the rest of it here."

Rose's eyes widened in shock. She decided that this was much more interesting than the tablet, and she sat down on the other side of the room, against the part of the wall dividing the two exits.

"Sir, you mustn't let your head and your heart clash when the fate of the world depends on your decision."

"I know, Spencer. I honestly can't decide, though…I'm torn!" Hartford sighed. "I mean, I almost let Ronny die to get a hold of this…I can't risk putting any more of their lives in danger over these Jewels."

"We'll keep it locked up if you think it's hazardous."

"It might be too late by then." Hartford replied, deeply sighing. After a few moments, he stood up from his chair. "I'm going to go…do something with Mack." He got up and walked upstairs.

Spencer sighed as he watched his overly depressed boss mope up the stairs. "I hate to see him fighting fate like this." He sighed and took the alternate exit out, leaving Rose on her own.

_Man, this Jewel must be something if Hartford thinks it's gonna kill us or whatever,_ Rose thought as she began to memorize the tablet once more.

Upstairs, the Rangers had once more retreated to the Living Room, and Mack seemed completely surprised by the barrage of accusations against his father.

"Why would my dad try and do that?" Mack asked. "I'm finding this hard to believe."

"So did we, but it's not like we're pulling this out of thin air, Mack." Ronny replied. "Will heard the conversation, your dad's refusing to let us look at the tablet…"

"Rose had to use her invisibility to get downstairs just to look at it!" Dax stated.

"I don't know, guys. This really doesn't add up. I think we should just back off and give him some time to figure this all out."

"Hey Mack." Hartford called from the doorway. Dax, Tyzonn, Will, and Ronny looked up in shock at him, while Mack just stood up and turned around. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" He asked.

"No, dad. We were finished here. You need me for something?" Mack sounded annoyed.

"I was wondering if you'd play a game of billiards with me. You used to brag about how good you are, and well, I'd like to see for myself." His voice wavered with uncertainty and nervousness.

"How's the tablet translation going?" Ronny suddenly chirped, getting rewarded with a light kick to the side from Mack.

"Well, I'm kinda stuck at the moment, so that's why I'm up here. Figured I'd spend some time with Mack."

"Right." Will replied. "Well, we're done here too. Anybody wanna go out for a pizza?"

"What is pizza?" Tyzonn asked.

"Just one of the greatest foods on the planet!" Dax said, slapping him on the back. "Let's take the jeep!"

"Sounds like fun!" Tyzonn said, jumping up and following Dax. Ronny and Will followed suit, leaving Mack alone with Hartford.

Out in the desert, Kamdor and Miratrix stood in front of a broken down wall. "We've finally arrived to the inner wall of Heliopolis."

Miratrix looked around at the near-barren landscape bordered by the broken walls. "Yeah, but where's the rest of it?"

"Buried beneath the sands. This ancient city has fallen to the dunes, it seems. We'll have to start digging to get into the temple, which is the ruined building with the obelisk on top."

Miratrix gave him a dirty look. "I have to dig? What do I look like, some sort of rodent?" Kamdor did not answer, but walked towards the obelisk silently. "Kamdor! Answer me!"

Meanwhile, at San Angeles's premiere pizza shop, Tyzonn dragged Ronny around, asking her of the various toppings.

"What're those round red things?" He asked, pointing to a slice on display.

"That's pepperoni, Tyzonn." She replied.

"What is pepperoni?"

"It's a salt cured meat product, flavored with spices."

"Oh…eh." He seemed to cringe. He then pointed to the piece next to it. "Is that broccoli on top?"

"Yes. You want a slice of that?"

"Yes! How much is it?"

"Buck seventy-five for the slice."

Tyzonn dug through his pockets for the correct amount of spare change that he had collected from scrounging around the Mansion. His hand finally retrieved enough nickels, quarters, and dimes for two slices.

"Here, gimme your change." She took three dollars in change and gave him three bills back.

"Thank you, Ronny." He smiled and ordered two slices of broccoli pizza.

"What's taking you two so long?" Will called out.

"He didn't know what he wanted." Ronny replied after ordering a slice of mushroom and onion pizza.

"I can't believe Mack is taking his dad's side." Dax said as the duo sat down at the table with their fresh slices.

"Well, if I was told my dad was sabotaging my job, I'd be a little upset too. I wouldn't believe anybody, either." Ronny replied.

Tyzonn began playing with the cheese, stretching it with an air of confusion of intrigue as Dax watched. "Dude, are you gonna eat that or what?"

Tyzonn looked up. "Huh? Oh, I'm just amazed at how stretchy this is. This is food?"

"Yes, now eat it." Will ordered.

"Hey, let's not snip at each other." Ronny chirped. "We should just be waiting for Rose to call us to let us know everything."

Down in the lab, Rose finished memorizing the tablet and congratulated herself. As she walked out, the Jewel Radar suddenly sounded, catching her attention. She ran to the console and quickly looked to see where the alarm was coming from. She scrunched her face up and ran upstairs.

She saw Mack and Hartford playing pool, so she took several steps back and dropped her invisibility, then walked past.

She watched as Mack knocked the 3-ball into a side pocket in an elaborate move, garnering praise from Hartford.

"Oh, hi Rose." Mack deadpanned.

"Hey, have you seen everyone?" Rose asked.

"They went out to get some pizza." Hartford replied.

Her eyes widened. "And they left me behind? Damn them! I should go catch up!" Rose gave Mack a look. "Oh, Mack, you wanna come with?"

"I'm not hungry." He replied, giving her a dirty look back.

"O…kay…" Rose gave him an odd look back, then headed for the garage.

She grabbed her morpher and called the group.

Will picked up. "Hey, what's up?"

"Get everyone together and turn off your GPS. We're heading to Egypt."

Spencer looked up at her as she passed, wondering what was going on. He shrugged and dismissed it, continuing to water the plants.

Miratrix and Kamdor finally crawled their way into the temple, slowly looking around for anything that might be harboring a hidden Jewel. Inside were large rectangular stone boxes, tall clay vases, piles of debris where lizards and snakes made their homes.

"Where do we start?" Miratrix asked. She got nothing from Kamdor but silence as he focused his Jewel-detecting abilities around the room. "…I'll keep a lookout." She mumbled, turning around.

"Ah! This way!" He grabbed Miratrix's arm and pulled her down the left corridor.

"You feel the Jewel's presence?" She asked.

"It is faint, but it's the strongest signal here. The Jewel must have been used before by the ancient peoples…it's a shame, but it will recharge quicker once we pair it with our sapphire."

"They recharge like that?" Miratrix sounded confused.

"The more we have, the more power they have, and the more power they have, the faster they can recharge. Now let's get to it quickly!"

They ran down the hallway, bursting through cobwebs and kicking up dust, in pursuit of the Jewel's energy. They stopped inside a large chamber, dimly lit with torches.

"The Jewel is definitely in here. I feel it." Kamdor stated.

"I feel something too…a chill in my spine." Miratrix replied. "This room is very strange."

The room was empty, save for the large rectangular black marble coffer in the middle and the decorative clay pots and vases surrounding the walls and floor and the oil jars that were once used to refill the torches. Kamdor used his Jewel-detection abilities once more to pinpoint the Jewel's location.

Miratrix looked up at the ceiling, where a colony of large beetles had congregated, and shivered. "Let's just get this done and over with."

Kamdor made a sound of acknowledgement then cracked his neck. "As I presumed." He said, walking to the center coffer. He knelt beside it, examining the sides to determine the best way to open it. "Hm…this seal looks...odd."

As Kamdor attempted to push the top off, Miratrix began inspecting the various highly decorated clay pots; some were encrusted with precious gems and stones, making them look more valuable than the ones she had seen before. She felt a lively energy coming from one of the pots around her, but before she could figure out what was going on, Kamdor slid the top of the coffer off, causing a great noise and making Miratrix look behind at him.

"Hm…" Kamdor said with a tone that Miratrix had never heard.

"What is it?" Miratrix asked as she walked over.

Kamdor held up a piece of parchment with writing scribbled all over it. Miratrix leaned over and read it herself. She sneered as she detected footsteps coming from down the hall. She stood up and looked down the hall as the yellow crystalline slits in Kamdor's mask lit up.

"Stop right there!" Will shouted as Kamdor stood up and crumpled the parchment with an air of vitriol in the act.

"You said they would never find us!" Miratrix jibed while giving him a dirty look.

"This day is just not turning out well for us…"

"C'mon, let's Ranger Up." Will said to the group.

"Right. Overdrive Accelerate!" The group quickly morphed and charged the duo.

Miratrix leaped over Dax and Tyzonn's shoulders and slashed the two as she turned around and landed, making them fall forwards. Kamdor tossed the crumpled paper and lunged at Rose and Ronny, but Will countered with his Drive Defender. Rose dove to the left, and Ronny dove to the right as the two began a power struggle.

Miratrix lunged at Rose as she recovered from her jump, and Rose panicked, grabbing a vase nearby and tossing it at her.

Miratrix felt the resonating energy from before fly out at her from inside the vase in the form of a venomous cobra. She flinched for a few milliseconds, then took both of her knives and sliced the oncoming cobra straight down the middle with one quick cross cut. She then timed her kick at the vase with precise aim, reflecting it back in the Pink Ranger and sending her crashing into the jars behind her. Numerous embedded jewels and gold coins showered down around her as she demorphed.

Tyzonn got up and aided Will, while Dax got up and jumpkicked Miratrix from behind. Ronny got a mildly insane idea as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Dax! Move!" She shouted as she prepared a blast.

Meanwhile, Tyzonn and Will caught the upper hand.

"Drive Detector!"

"Drive Defender!"

They charged up their weapons and struck as hard as they could as Ronny fired at the ceiling above. A massive wave of beetles dropped and swarmed around the only standing target nearby: Miratrix.

She shrieked as Tyzonn and Will stuck Kamdor and knocked him back, sparks flying through the air. Kamdor landed and rolled, then lied down for a moment as Miratrix ran screaming around the room swatting scarab beetles out of her hair.

"Get these things off of me! AHHHHH!" Miratrix ran out of the room screaming as Kamdor got up.

"You may have won the battle…but you will not win the war." Kamdor sheathed his swords and chased the still-screaming Miratrix out of the temple.

"Rose!" Ronny ran over to her. The rest of the group walked over to her as she came to.

"Whoa, what a hit…" Rose replied. "Did they get the Jewel?"

"Well, this's open, but there's nothing in here but a ton of sand." Will said, looking around.

"Hey, I wonder what this is?" Dax said, picking up the crumpled parchment that Kamdor had thrown.

Rose took interest in a long hunk of a deep red colored gem that sat in front of her. "Hm…" She picked it up and inspected it.

"This's in English, guys…" Dax said, holding up the note. "I'll read it:

_To whomever has opened this coffer,_

_You are unfortunately too late. I have secured the majority of this relic in my own personal sanctuary. For those who had planned on using its legendary power for their own purposes, I feel no remorse in robbing you of the opportunity. Perhaps if you are lucky enough to come across what remains to be found of the Garnet Sun, may you have any sort of luck making it useful._

Whoever found it before us was quite a showoff to leave this note here."

"Hey guys, check this out!" Rose called out. The group looked over at her. "I think I found the remaining piece!"

Her Tracker beeped softly as she kept the scanner trained on the large garnet hunk in her hand. Ronny stared at it.

"It looks like it's broken on its rounded end…" Ronny replied.

"Whoa! Nice work, Rose!" Dax exclaimed.

"We truly have a great deal of luck." Tyzonn commented.

"Let's get back to the Mansion with it…Hartford's got a lot of explaining to do." Will added. The group collectively nodded and headed back to the S.H.A.R.C.

Meanwhile, at the Mansion, Hartford tried in vain to find the Rangers, with Mack close by his side.

"They turned off their GPS tracking, they disabled the S.H.A.R.C.'s GPS tracking…what are they up to?"

"They're looking for the Jewel." Mack commented harshly.

Hartford spun around and stared at Mack with wide eyes. "…What? I've been the only one working on it, and I haven't told them anything of what I discovered yet! How did they find out?"

"Rose snuck down here and looked it over." Mack replied. "That's why they left her behind."

"Don't they trust that I'm doing my part to help?" Hartford asked, his face turned towards the screen.

"Not at all. They told me that you were going out of your way to make sure they didn't get it. They said they heard you say that…how low can they sink just because you're not finished translating the tablet when they want you to be?" Mack crossed his arms and laughed to himself. Hartford looked down at the ground.

"Sir, the S.H.A.R.C. has docked." Spencer reported as he walked downstairs. Hartford and Mack faced the doorway, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.

The four arrived, Rose at the helm with the fragment of the Garnet Sun in hand.

"So you decided to go on ahead of me. I see." Hartford said.

"Cut the nonsense. Tell us why you didn't let us pursue this Jewel." Ronny spoke up.

"Don't start this again." Mack viciously replied.

"Tell Mack why, even though we left Ronny to die to pursue the trail to this Jewel, you abandoned it." Tyzonn spoke up, ignoring Mack. "Tell us all why."

"Because I knew there was nothing behind it." Hartford replied, his voice sounding mildly defeated.

"Dad…?" Mack's features shifted drastically, from triumphant arrogance to outright shock. "You…knew?"

"Maybe because you had already taken it and left a note saying you did." Dax said, holding up the crumpled parchment.

Hartford took the scrap and read it over. "I still don't understand how any of you had the time to read it over and figure it out so quickly."

"We didn't. The scanner picked up Miratrix and Kamdor. We followed them, because I figured that they knew where it was." Rose replied.

"You're lucky Rose was looking over the tablet, or we might've lost this to them." Will commented.

"What is it, anyways? It looks broken…" Mack reached out to grab it, but Hartford grabbed the Jewel himself.

"It's a sacred artifact that was once used as a source of great power. After a long time, it became broken for some reason but nobody knows why." Hartford replied. "Now, I'm going to set this here for now, and tomorrow, I'll put it with the rest of the Garnet."

"Fine. We're taking the rest of the day off." Rose replied as they turned around and left.

Mack stood, staring at Hartford in shock.

"They were right…" Mack said, his voice trembling.

"No, they weren't." Hartford replied, placing the Garnet Sun piece on the main desk. "I wanted them to go out and get this Jewel piece last because I knew they wouldn't find anything and that they were wasting their time." Hartford began tinkering with a device nervously.

"Dad, please…don't lie. I completely turned my back on them because I thought you would never do something like this."

"I told them, and you, the truth. Several years ago, before I found the Corona Aurora, I found the broken Garnet Sun. I didn't know at the time that it was a Jewel, but since it was once a source of great power, I brought it back with me and securely stored it away. When I saw the tablet, I realized what it was, and knew that we'd have to find the last piece eventually, and that if they wasted their time trying to find the whole thing, they'd only be letting the last one go unchecked."

Mack thought over the explanation slowly, his eyes constantly darting to the broken Jewel, then slowly back to his father, then darted back to the Jewel, his gaze lasting more and more on the Jewel itself until his eyes stopped darting away. He blinked and turned his back to Hartford. "I really want to believe you, dad, but I can't right now. I'm…I'm gonna go upstairs."

While Kamdor and Miratrix licked their wounds and the Rangers recovering from the day's events, Mack found solace in sitting down in the lawn, staring up into the clear sky. The remainder of the day passed by him, and the stars and moon emerged around him, and before he knew it, it was nearly midnight.

"Young sir, you've skipped dinner and it's long been past your father's recommended turn-in time for you Rangers." Spencer said as he approached him.

"I feel…uneasy." Mack replied, still looking up at the sky.

"Howso?" Spencer said, slowly sitting down next to Mack.

"I feel like I've been lied to…by everyone. And my father doesn't want anyone touching that thing…and everything's really not right, and I'm just…uneasy. I can't explain it."

"Your father has never been the completely sensible one, I will agree." Spencer replied. "He's protective of everyone he thinks is in danger, especially you. You're his only child, and a single male parent with a young man on his hands…he doesn't want you to make mistakes that you can't fix. You understand that?"

"Yeah, I guess." Mack replied. "It's just…since I joined the group, he's been very smothering. I don't know. I feel odd about it." Mack sighed. "…Do you think it has to do with my accident two years ago?"

"I think it has everything to do with it. The three of us have had a tough time together fixing everything that had been taken away, and he has taken it a bit hard sometimes, and I know seeing his boy out there worries him ever so much."

"I'm getting better slowly, and I wish I could get better quicker. I wish I could remember everything and just…surprise him one day." Mack smiled. "But for now…I'm the Red Ranger. I feel most important doing this, ya know? Like it's a calling." Mack sighed. "I wish he'd just…get it."

"Well, I think he'll understand what you mean soon enough. Now, would you like some lemonade to at least fill you a bit before bed?"

"I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight, but sure." Mack smiled.

As Spencer walked into the kitchen to get Mack some lemonade, Mack paced himself closer and closer to the lab staircase. The light was on; his father wasn't sleeping either. He eyed the door and stopped.

"Spencer, hold that lemonade, okay?" Mack called out.

"Will do, Young Sir." Spencer replied. "Kitchen's open if you want anything later. Just not too later."

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

Mack descended down the staircase to find Hartford tinkering with the thing he had been tinkering with before.

"…Dad?" Mack called. Hartford looked up.

"Oh, hey Mack." He said briefly. A silence filled the gap between them, and Hartford stood up. "Look, I'm sorry for earlier-"

"It's okay, dad." Mack said. "I understand that everything's been stressful lately, and I just got confused and I picked sides, and I was stupid."

Hartford set the device he was tinkering with down and walked over to Mack, placing his hand on his shoulder. "You weren't stupid, Mack. You just didn't want to pick sides, and I understand."

"No, I just didn't understand why you did what you did. I thought about it for a while, and I got it. We have one Jewel left to find, and we have to focus on that. I will say one thing though."

"What?"

"You were pretty tricky, Dad. Gotta hand it to ya." Mack smiled.

"Yeah." Hartford grinned.

Mack's attention focused back on the Garnet Sun piece. "So what are you gonna do with that?" He asked, moving away from Hartford and walking closer to the Jewel piece. Hartford stopped him about ten feet away from it.

"I am gonna try and get the rest of it out from storage, and then I'll try carefully putting it back together." Hartford replied.

"Sounds like a great idea." Mack smiled.

"Now, I'm going to go upstairs and get some work done, and you should go to bed."

"I will." Mack smiled as Hartford made his way to the stairs. Mack's eyes fixated on the Jewel piece, which sat there, beckoning for him to pick it up and give it to his father. He went to pick it up, but paused. "Hey dad?"

Hartford stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

"Do you think…maybe the Jewels could restore my memories? I mean, sometimes they come to me every once in a while…but I feel…" Mack sighed. "The Jewels can perform miracles…I wonder if they could help me. I feel like I've let you down, somehow, not remembering everything."

"You've never let me down. You're the best son I could've ever asked for, regardless of everything that's happened to us in the last two years."

Mack slowly moved his hand towards the Jewel piece and Hartford tensed. "I just wish I could remember everything…" His eyes teared up as he grabbed the Jewel piece to hand it to Hartford. The Jewel lit up to his touch, and the Jewel Radar began to sound, and the millisecond Mack had gave him enough time to realize what was happening.

The Jewel thrust itself into the bottom of his palm closest to his wrist, and he yelped in pain.

"Mack!" Hartford ran back down the stairs to help him, but he was too late.

The Jewel discharged energy as it dug deeper into his hand, and Mack screamed out in pain, paralyzed by the intensity.

Hartford watched in horror at it lasted for nearly an entire minute; he feared touching Mack and getting electrocuted himself, yet he felt an obligation to do something.

He grabbed the fire blanket from the fire safety compartment and enveloped Mack with it, slowly dropping his limping frame to the ground slowly as the energy crackled away.

Hartford's hands shook as he quickly examined Mack. He opened Mack's hand to find that the gem was completely driven into his left arm, yet he had neither a wound nor blood to show for it. His skin, save for the area the Jewel now seemed to possess, was growing colder by the second, and he ceased to move.

It took a few moments for it all to click in Hartford's mind, but once it did, he thought of only one thing: "SPENCER!"

His screams echoed down the empty and silent corridors, rousing the butler to action. He stared at the glass of lemonade sitting on the counter for a moment, then poured the contents back in the batch before making his way down to the lab.


	3. Chapter Two: Lost In Translation

Five pairs of feet scrambled from the bedroom wing, stirred from their sleep. A blacklight swept the floor and the walls, looking for signs of what was happening.

"Was that Hartford screaming?" Ronny asked.

"I hope not, but it sounded a little like him." Tyzonn replied.

"See anything, Rose?" Dax asked.

"Not yet. This place could really use a few nightlights." Rose replied, sweeping the hallway with her Tracker's blacklight. The Tracker began to beep as they approached the end of the hall before the staircase; the tune that normally implied that a Jewel was nearby.

"Does that usually happen in here?" Will asked.

"I tried to scan for the Jewels before up here…it won't register until you at least make it halfway downstairs. I wonder why it's-" Rose jumped as her blacklight revealed Spencer standing near them.

"Can you all stand to the side of the wall for a moment or so?" Spencer asked them.

The group silently followed the request as the Tracker's beeping got louder. A pair of labored footsteps trudged up the staircase, and Spencer walked over to them. Rose moved the light over to follow and revealed Hartford carrying what looked like a poorly wrapped fire blanket around a dirty blonde figure. The Tracker's beeping grew to its loudest as Spencer helped Hartford carry the limp figure into Mack's room.

The area got silent, and Rose looked around with her Tracker. Everyone's faces looked paler than normal, their eyes wide in shock.

"Please turn your Tracker off, Rose. The beeping is killing my ears." Will asked.

Rose closed up the Tracker and slipped in her pajama pants pocket. "Sorry."

"I wanna go to sleep…but I'm worried." Ronny said.

"I'm with her on this." Tyzonn replied.

"I say we all wait until tomorrow…I really need my beauty sleep." Dax commented. The group looked at him oddly. "What?"

"Let's just wait." Will said.

"I'm sleeping on the couch." Ronny replied as she walked to the stairs.

"I'll…sleep under the couch." Tyzonn added, following Ronny.

"And you guys think I'm weird." Dax commented to Will and Rose.

In Mack's room, Hartford stood over Mack's seemingly lifeless body, his entire body showing signs of extreme grief.

"Sir, there's nothing you can do for him at the moment. You know that." Spencer said, putting his hand on Hartford's shoulder.

Hartford looked back at Spencer, removing his hand as his eyes glassed over with tears.

"What if he doesn't wake up?" Hartford replied. "It's my fault. It's my fault for not stopping him, my fault for not telling him."

"You couldn't have predicted this. Neither of us could have." Spencer tried to give a reassuring look, and what he managed to pull together was more than enough for Hartford, it seemed.

"…Am I supposed to feel this terrible?"

"Yes, yes you are. He's a living thing with not a sign of life showing, and you feel horrible about it. I'd be a little worried if you weren't feeling this bad, Sir."

Hartford nodded and looked back at Mack. "So…what do we do from here?"

"I'd say that the best thing is to let him recover for the night and to check up on him in the morning."

"I don't think I can sleep."

"I'll make you some lem-"

"Coffee. Black."

"Yes, Sir…" Spencer replied, slightly shocked by the request. He walked out and down to the kitchen. "I hope I can find the coffee maker…"

Hartford unwrapped Mack from the fire blanket and pulled the bedsheets out from under him, covering him in them. He ruffled Mack's hair for a few moments, hoping for a response, yet getting nothing. He sighed deeply, then walked down to the kitchen.

The morning arrived slowly, and Ronny, having not slept well on the couch, sat up and rubbed her eyes. She then shifted her tank top back into place and sat the blanket back over the top of the couch.

Ronny went to step down off the couch when she noticed a mildly pulsating silver puddle poking out from under the couch. She raised an eyebrow and lightly poked it with her bare toes, causing it to pull back under.

She looked under the couch in wonder. "Tyzonn?"

"Oh, you're up…" A metallic voice called out from under the couch. The silver-colored mass rolled out from under the couch and quickly reformed into Tyzonn wearing his grey sweatpants and teeshirt from earlier in the morning.

"May I ask why you were under there?" Ronny asked.

"Of course you can." Tyzonn replied, then waited. "…Oh, that was the question?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Well, I figured that I'd sleep down here just in case something else happened, and the warmest place down here is underneath the couch."

"Oh." Ronny replied, sitting her hands on her hips. "Well, I need a shower. I'll catch ya later in about fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes, okay?"

"Alright." Tyzonn sat down on the couch and waited patiently as Ronny walked back to her room.

Meanwhile, in Mack's room…

Mack's eyes opened slowly, blinking a few times. The reddish brown orbs curiously traced over the landscape that lay in front of him, as none of it seemed familiar.

Around him stood a room painted deep red from the ceiling to the carpet, a few cherry wood bookshelves holding trophies and books and old photos in frames, a cherry wood desk with a laptop sitting on top, waiting to be used; all of which complimented the oak-framed mirror, night stand, and bed frame with red sheets.

He sat up and pulled the sheets off, slowly sliding out of bed. The light from the other side of the blinds drew him close, and he opened them and began trying to find the source. He walked to the bedroom door and began trying to open it, only to find that it was locked after jiggling the doorknob a few times. One good tug pulled the door off its hinges, and he left it teetering against the wall.

The floor beneath his bare feet was cold, and he shivered slightly. Nothing seemed to click in his memory of anything; the place was made of marble and wood, built in a style that was completely foreign to Mack. He was freezing cold and barely able to move; he needed some form of energy to keep him moving. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the strongest energy he could feel. After a moment he followed the source to another room.

Downstairs, Tyzonn picked up the remote and channel surfed, as he normally did when he was bored with nobody to talk to. He lingered on a local news station, but after half a minute of the traffic report with the two coffee-addled chuckleheads posing as news anchors, Tyzonn flipped over to a 24-hour news channel.

"Another baby panda birth?" Tyzonn griped. "Why are humans so interested in the procreation of these things?"

He didn't have long to ponder, as a shriek pierced the air from upstairs. Tyzonn jumped up and ran upstairs.

"Get the hell out of here!" Ronny shouted at Mack from inside the shower. He seemed to be more entranced at the lights above her than herself. He looked at her curiously as she continued to talk; she looked vaguely familiar to him, and he tried focusing on the thought of her in mind.

_A young female dressed in Centurion battle armor stood in a large temple hallway, leaning over him. "Your Highness, I found something!" She shouted, her long, curly brown locks shifting about as she looked back._

_A man in red battle armor walked over as he sheathed his sword and brushed his dark blonde sweat-matted bangs out of his eyes. "What is it Berenice?"_

"_I think this is part of a sacred sun ritual…"_

"_Well then, leave it for the scholars. They'll figure out its purpose…"_

Mack supposed that the lady Berenice was standing in front of him, but nothing she said made sense, as if she were speaking an entirely different language.

"Don't you hear me? Get out!" Ronny shouted again, and Mack tried with no luck to comprehend.

Tyzonn burst into the room, blindly reaching in. "Tyzonn, get Mack out of here!"

Tyzonn grabbed Mack's shoulder provoking Mack to look back at him and push him away, knocking him halfway into Ronny's room. Tyzonn got up as Mack walked towards him.

"Mack, what was that for?" Tyzonn asked. Mack looked him over; nothing familiar came to mind, and to him, he felt compelled to defend the Berenice look-alike in the other room.

Tyzonn slowly rose to his feet before Mack finished the job and tossed him out of the room, denting the wall across the way from the force. Tyzonn bounced and dropped to the floor as Rose, Dax, and Will ran out in full Ranger regalia, morphers at the ready.

"Tyzonn! What's going on?" Rose asked.

"Mack's gone nuts, and he's not holding back…" Tyzonn replied, holding his shoulder at the point Mack had grabbed.

Mack walked out of the room and spotted the suited trio that had joined in and soon realized that he was running out of strength and was heavily outnumbered. He kept his eyes trained on the armed opponents and their strange handheld devices as he slowly backed up towards the balcony.

"Mack, stop right there. Let's just talk this out." Rose said.

"I don't think he wants to talk…" Tyzonn replied.

Mack ran for the balcony, bounding over the railing and sticking the landing. The trio watched and were stunned by the sheer movement.

"Did he just…?" Rose looked back and forth between Will and Dax a few times, making sure that they had all witnessed Mack pulling a stunt that normally Dax could have only accomplished.

Mack looked up at them and began his run out of the building via the front door. It was then that the trio noticed his action and snapped out of their trance. "Get him!"

Mack tackled the front door out of sheer adrenaline, putting all of his strength and weight behind him, and he punched a hole through the door itself and rolled down the stairs, stopping in the grass. He regained his composure and looked up; the sun was just rising up over the horizon, and Mack could feel its warmth and energy breathing life into him. He ran for the road that led out into the city as fast as his legs could take him.

By the time Rose, Dax, and Will got outside, Mack was nowhere to be found. "Dammit!" Will shouted. "We lost him."

"How did he do that? Did he like, gain all our powers last night or something?" Dax asked.

"He couldn't have." Will replied. "We gotta comb the area. He couldn't have gotten far."

Will began using his super hearing to try and hear Mack running, or even the heavy breathing and rapid heartbeat associated with the sprinting Mack was doing, but he wasn't having any luck. Dax leaped up to the top of the Mansion to get a better visual of the area, but it didn't help either.

"I can't believe this!" Dax shouted.

Rose got an idea from the early morning, and switched her Tracker to its Jewel Radar mode. "We'll find him real quick, guys. Watch."

Back in the Mansion, Ronny ran out of her room in a bathrobe and helped the struggling Tyzonn to his feet.

"Thanks, Ronny." He replied in a pained voice.

"Are you gonna be okay?" She asked.

"Maybe. I guess I'm a little thankful that I can take beatings better than humans right now…"

"We gotta talk to Hartford. He's gotta know what's wrong with Mack." Ronny commented. "I don't even think he understood a word any of us said…and his eyes…"

"I noticed something in his eyes, too. They were…"

"Glazed over like a donut!"

"…I was going to mention that they looked like they were a different color, but sure, that too."

"C'mon, let's go talk to Hartford."

Mack quickly found his way into San Angeles through an underused trail through the wooded area separating the mansion from the town. He looked around in awe of the numerous multi-story buildings; he never would have imagined that buildings as shining and elegant could stand so tall or be so numerous in volume. He looked around to see if he could traverse to the top of such a building. He spotted a ladder that was slightly elevated, yet was attached to a stair system that led to the top of the building. He grabbed a dumpster and pulled it underneath the ladder, then hoisted himself up.

He ran up the fire escape to the top of the apartment building, then scoped out the quickest route to the tallest building in the town. He quickly trailed a path visually that didn't test how far he could push his body often, and he felt a sense of joy spread through him. He'd be up to his own standards much sooner than he thought.

He backed up to the edge of the roof, then dashed and leaped to the next apartment complex's roof, then repeated the action. The next rooftop was easy to jump to, but a far ways down. He quickly focused his energy as he backed up; he then ran and leaped off the roof, then rolled to avoid most of the injury he would have faced.

The landing took a lot out of him, and he paused in front of a solar panel to focus himself once more. The energy radiance from the solar panel caught his attention, and he looked back at it. He reached out and placed his hand against it and channeled the energy into himself, quickly giving himself a boost that surely would give him enough to carry on until the end. As he let go and stood up, a blast of energy nearly missed striking him in the back of his foot. He looked back to find Mig with a sour look on his face.

"It's a shame I missed, Red Ranger! I wanted to have a little fun with you, but I guess it'll have to wait." He said.

Benglo walked up behind Mack, snarling. Mack fell to the ground out of shock. "Look at him, Mig. He's not even in proper fighting clothes! He doesn't even have a Tracker on him!"

"You're right, Benglo! He's not even wearing shoes!"

"He's not a threat to us. He knows we could kill him in one fell swoop, right boy?"

Mack stared at him, still defeated by the language barrier. He didn't even think these were human creatures at all. They couldn't be! Perhaps they were renegades of the underworld, or perhaps twisted children of an angry god. Either way, he didn't have much time to think of what to do, judging by the tones of their voices. They sounded like angry, underfed cats pining for a chunk of one of his limbs.

"Something's wrong with him, Mig…" Benglo said, kneeling down to Mack's eye level. "His scent is strange."

"What do you mean, 'his scent is strange'? What is it with you and scents?" Mig replied, throwing a small fit.

"Well, every human gives off a unique scent, you see. That's how I can tell if a Ranger is nearby, and which specific Rangers we'll find. Normally, the Red Ranger gives off a very warm lemon and apple scent, but right now…he smells like…" Benglo sniffed Mack, which made him pull back a bit. "He smells like a desert. Like a vast, open desert."

"I didn't even know you could smell a desert!"

"Well, you can't really, Mig, but the scent makes me think of a desert. I think that this Red Ranger is either a fake or he has changed greatly." Mig stood up. "He doesn't understand a word I'm saying, nor does he appear to speak it. You're like a blank slate, aren't you?" Mig looked down at Mack, who merely stared at him with curiosity. "See?"

"You have a point…I mean, nobody who's sane would be walking around on a roof without shoes…or at least those little bunny slippers they sometimes wear after a bubble bath…hm. Maybe I'll give it a try!" Mig walked over to Mack and sat down beside him.

"Hello there, Red Ranger." He waved, and Mack's eyes followed his hand. "Yes, see, no weapon! I am sorry for the accident." Mack blinked, making Mig slightly upset. "What's your name, human?" Mack cocked his head to the side, causing Mig to get to his feet and throw a fit. "Argh! He doesn't understand a damn thing! He's like talking to a deaf mute!"

"Patience, Mig!" Benglo replied. "Watch."

Benglo sat down beside Mack and cleared his throat. "Hello." He said, holding out his hand for Mack to shake. Mack looked at his hand suspiciously, unsure of what to do. Benglo held his hand closer to Mack, and Mack pulled away more. "I won't hurt you. See? My gun is holstered. I mean no harm. Will you shake hands?" Benglo pushed his hand out another inch closer, and Mack crawled back to the solar panel. "Well, he doesn't want to shake hands, so we'll have to try something else."

"By the time we get him to be friends with us, Miratrix and Kamdor will be here, maybe even Flurious and Moltor!"

"Yes, but then he'll be our friend, won't he?" Benglo replied, tapping against his temple. "Patience is truly a virtue right now, Mig. Sit down and let's try again."

While Mack had just arrived in San Angeles, Ronny and Tyzonn marched themselves down to Hartford's office. He didn't look up at them as they walked in, as he was consumed by his paperwork.

"Mr. Hartford?" Ronny said, trying to get his attention. He didn't look up.

"Excuse us…Mr. Hartford." Tyzonn tried, but he too was ignored.

Spencer walked in, looking nervous. "Ugh, Sir…" Hartford looked up, noticing that the three of them were there.

"Oh, you need me, Spencer?" He asked, setting his pen down.

"Mack's bedroom door…it's off its hinges."

Hartford's eyes widened.

"Mack broke into my room and raided my shower!" Ronny added.

"And when I tried to get him out of there, he beat me to a pulp." Tyzonn added.

"Where is he right now?" Hartford asked, standing up.

"Have you seen the front door?" Ronny asked, shocked by his question.

It was then that Dax ran into the office. "Hey guys! There you are! I thought you two were still upstairs."

"No, we're here. What's up?"

"You two may wanna get suited up; Rose says she was picking up faint signals leading towards San Angeles."

"What? Why would he go into San Angeles unarmed?" Ronny asked.

"He wasn't even properly dressed!" Tyzonn added.

"Mack's gone to San Angeles without so much as his Tracker?" Hartford asked.

"He didn't even have a pair of socks on his feet, Mr. Hartford. I think we scared the hell out of him."

"I'll go with you, then." Hartford said.

"It's too dangerous for you, Sir. If he lashed out against Tyzonn, he may not think twice about attacking anyone else, even you." Spencer replied.

Hartford looked down at his desk and dropped into his chair. "I suppose you're right." Hartford replied in a gloomy voice. "Just…bring him back in one piece."

"Will do." Dax replied. "Oh, Tyzonn, you feeling okay?"

"Yes, just so long as nobody hits my shoulder or back too hard for a while."

"Get an ice pack for the ride. You can sit in the back of the jeep." Dax said, slapping him on the back. Tyzonn winced, making Dax flinch. "Oh, sorry."

Meanwhile…

"We're getting nowhere fast! Let's just kill him and take the Jewel! Those ninjas'll be here any minute!" Mig shouted, standing up.

"They're not far…I can smell Miratrix's perfume coming in from the bay." Benglo grabbed Mack's arm and pulled him to his feet. "Give us the damn Jewel or we'll gut you like a fish!" Benglo threatened. "We're sick of playing games with you!"

Mack slammed his palm into Benglo's face, making him let go and knocking him away. Benglo teetered on the ledge, and Mack ran at him. He jump kicked Benglo in the chest, sending him flying through the wall of the building behind him.

"You think you're going to defeat me that easily?" Mig threatened, holding up both his pistols. Mack looked around the roof, then spotted a long metal antenna of sorts a couple of feet away. He sidestepped over to it, grabbed a firm hold of it, and broke the bottom away from the building with a quick kick. He twirled the antenna to get a feel of its weight and handling, then decided its best use would be to use it as a sort of spear and positioned his hands appropriately.

"What? Are you gonna beat me up with that big stick? I'd like to see you t-" Mack jabbed him in the stomach as he caught Mig off guard. "You little brat!" He shot repeatedly at Mack, and Mack deflected the shots off the tip of the antenna by swatting them away.

Mig growled and leaped into the air, firing off several more shots. Mack deflected them swiftly, and decided to use an attack of his own.

He focused some of his own energy into the antenna, causing it to glow red. He then swung the antenna upwards in an arc, catching Mig in the chin and transferring the energy in the form of a heavy electrical charge. The bolt shot through Mig's body and caused points of his body to spit out sparks as he flew backwards and dropped to the street below.

On the edge of town, the remaining Ranger waited for Rose's call from the jeep as Will tapped his foot. "You found him yet?"

"Give me a sec…there!" Rose pointed to a business building that was several stories tall. "The signature's really strong there."

"So we go!" Tyzonn replied, revving up the ATV that Mack normally drove. Dax and Ronny, both on their motorcycles, responded by revving their bikes as well.

The quintet quickly drove up to the building; Ronny parked her bike first and reached for her Zip Shooter. "I'll go up there," she stated. "I think I'm the only one he's neither afraid of nor pissed at."

"Go for it." Rose replied. Ronny shot a zipline up that wrapped around a banister and pulled her up.

Mack saw her and was shocked to see her. He dropped the antenna and just stared at her.

"Hey Mack…are you okay?" She asked him, approaching him slowly. He backed up as soon as he noticed her uniform. "What's wrong? I'm not here to hurt you." She set her Zip Shooter in her side holster and took off her Tracker, setting it on the ground. "Mack, let's get back to the Mansion. Your dad's worried sick about you." Mack stopped suddenly.

He wanted desperately to have a clue about what she was saying. He wondered if he had enough energy to pull it off; the two Fearcats had wasted a lot of his energy. Ronny continued to slowly approach him.

As she got within arm's reach, Mack pulled her close and embraced her, focusing all the energy he needed for the task at hand.

Ronny felt as if something were pulling from her brain to Mack's body. She panicked and pushed him away, knocking him off the ledge. "Oh no!" She jumped off after him, firing off the Zip Shooter as she grabbed his hand. "What were you doing to me?" She asked him. He smiled and grabbed her arm tightly as they began going back up. "You think you're funny, huh?" Mack shrugged. "…You…understand me?" She asked, a bit shocked. He nodded. "Oh sure, now you do. Figures." She rolled her eyes. "So, are you ready to go home?"

Mack couldn't think of an equivalent for the word 'home' as he rapidly translated. He knew what it was, but he had no clue which one this Berenice look-alike was referring to. Was it the one he had been in before, the bizarre one with the even stranger room and the cold floors that killed every beam of sunlight that attempted to make its way in? If it was, he had no plans to return to that sort of cage. He looked around and saw the strange horseless chariots making their ways around the black roads below him.

Mack shook his head no as he looked up at Ronny. She gave him a questioning look, and had no time to react as he let go of her and dropped towards the blacktop streets below.


	4. Chapter Three: The Great Escape

The semi, unknowingly a part of this scenario, became the platform which Mack had wisely tossed himself upon. The impact vibrated through his body, and he winced slightly, but he shook it off and smiled.

Ronny panicked, her eyes widened from shock, and it took her a few minutes to figure out what had just happened. She pulled herself up to the roof and grabbed her Tracker. "Guys, follow that semi! Mack landed on it!"

"I told you that was Mack." Rose turned her head and smirked at Will.

"Hurry Ronny!" Tyzonn called up to her. Ronny ziplined down to her motorcycle and they all gave chase.

Benglo slowly sat up, the office employees inside the building standing around in a mix of fear and wonder. He hissed at them, making them scatter. "Stupid humans. Where's Mig?" He said, standing up and looking out into the area. He saw the Rangers following a semi, and Mig limping around the streets. "Ugh…"

Benglo leaped down and approached Mig. "You let the Red Ranger go? You idiot!"

"He defeated me on his own, and then ran away from the Rangers. He's on nobody's side, it looks like." Mig replied.

"This is interesting…I know retreating should be our option, but if he's not crawling to the safety of his allies, then he's wide open. Let's get him before the ninjas do."

"I'll try to keep up…" Mig replied, holding his chest.

Mack sat on top of the semi, letting his thoughts translate into something he could comprehend. Everyone kept on offering him sanctuary and protection, but it felt almost spurious. They wanted him to feel safe, yet they all approached him, armed. Trying to fool him by holstering their weapons only meant that it took a few more seconds to kill him in the long run. No, he was promised a life free of servitude and abuse, and he was going to have it.

He heard something hit the semi behind him, and he turned around. There a blue warrior stood with strange swords in hand; surely he was another one of these people who were out to make off with him.

"Ah, look what I've found. The lone Red Ranger, unarmed, and even unshoed." Kamdor joked to himself. "Now, hand over the Jewel."

Mack sighed deeply. He found the fact that everyone liked to joke about his lack of footwear annoying now, and the names that people referred to his as confused him. "Mack", "Red Ranger", perhaps they were misinformed.

"Mack" wasn't even a word he could find an equivalent for, and the phrase "Red Ranger" brought to mind a line of archers wearing bright red silk scarves around their faces to protect from an oncoming sandstorm. He could only assume that 'Jewel' referred to himself, and it enraged him.

At least the others had been a bit less blunt about their desires.

He stood up and cracked his neck.

"Are you honestly going to fight me unarmed?" Kamdor tried taunting Mack. He nodded his head yes, then struck a fighting pose. "I hope your grave is nearby."

Behind him another set of feet hit the roof below him, he turned around and saw Miratrix staring him down.

"Thieving little bastards you Rangers are…unfair fight or not, we're getting that damn Jewel from you, even if we have to pry it from your cold, dead hands!" She threatened. Mack found her statement confusing, but took it as the threat it was nonetheless.

He sighed; these strange warriors wearing equally strange clothes and brandishing thin, long blades were absolute barbarians with no concept of courtesy or manners. Even if the passing thought to surrender to any of the groups he had encountered had overwhelmed him, he certainly would not let this group be the one.

The duo charged him, and he grinned. He back flipped and kicked Miratrix in the chest, knocking her backwards, and he landed in a crouched position. He then lunged at Kamdor and tackled him to the roof, putting a dent into the top on impact. Kamdor pushed him off and quickly got to his feet.

Miratrix recovered and rushed him once again, and this time Mack was fully prepared. He roundhouse kicked at her, and to his surprise, she caught his leg and flipped him, sending him landing facedown on the roof. He grimaced, then grabbed her ankles and pulled her legs out from under her.

Kamdor grabbed Mack and lifted him up by his hair, and Mack winced. "Alright, where's the Jewel?" Mack gave him a pained and confused look, and Kamdor was unsure why. Looking Mack over, he then realized that Mack's clothes had no pockets. "Huh?"

Miratrix got up and limped over to Kamdor. "What's wrong?"

Kamdor focused his Jewel Detection skill and the radiant arc pulsed from deep within Mack's chest. Kamdor's visor slits lit up. "Miratrix…it's in his body…" Her eyes widened.

"How did it get in there?!" She shouted.

"Who cares? It doesn't belong there!"

Miratrix grinned. "I'll get it." She pulled out her wakizashi and prepared to cut Mack open, and his eyes widened in terror. He kicked her in the chest with all the strength he could put behind a single kick. The sword went flying out of her hand and she landed at the very edge of the semi's trailer. He then grabbed Kamdor's wrist at the pressure point, making Kamdor's hand release his hair, then grabbed his arm and began to spin about.

"Hey guys, I see something up there!" Tyzonn pointed out. Mack stopped at the edge of the semi and hammer tossed Kamdor off, and he flew through the air and over the Rangers' vehicles, landing a good twenty feet behind them.

"Mack!" Rose shouted. Mack slumped over, feeling weak from overexertion. The sun's rays were scarce and fleeting, and he wasn't catching enough of it down on the streets.

Miratrix charged at Mack a third time; he sidestepped at the last moment and tripped her, sending her flying off the top of the semi and careening towards the pavement. She threw a kunai attached to a metal cord at the Ranger jeep, smashing through the front window and wrapping around the metal frame several times. It gave her enough of a lift to straighten her landing, and she bounced her foot off the blacktop and leaped into the jeep.

Rose stopped the jeep hard, and before Miratrix could fully recover, Rose and Will were fully morphed, with their Drive Defenders in gun mode pointed directly against the nape of her neck.

"Go ahead and kill me. Kamdor'll carve your little Red Ranger up like a game hen and take the Jewel himself." Miratrix replied.

"Yeah right." Rose replied.

"Not if we get to him first, sweet cheeks." Will added.

"Does he even know you're trying to save him?" Miratrix asked in a curious tone.

"Well…I don't know." Rose replied.

"What makes you think he wants to be saved?"

"Because he's our friend. I'm sure the concept goes way over your head." Will answered.

"The Red Ranger is not a person if he is a Jewel carrier. If anything, he's a frightened little animal. You'd better stop treating him that way or you'll just be slamming your head against a wall." Miratrix grinned. "Now, I'd love to sit here and chat…" She pulled out a spare wakizashi and swung around, knocking the Drive Defenders out of the duo's hands and stunning them. "…but I have a Jewel to claim." She leaped out of the jeep and began chasing down the semi on foot.

Mack lied down on top of the semi, hoping to catch a few more sunrays as they cruised through the town so he could recover. He looked back at the road coming up and saw a long stretch of road that opened up almost endlessly with very little shade. He felt fortunate.

He closed his eyes as the semi approached the highway and translated more of the conversations from earlier. He was unsure of what he had been doing before this morning, but if he had been in a luxurious looking bedroom in an even more luxurious looking building when he awoke, then surely there was more to the uniformed crew than earlier perceived. If Berenice was allied with them, they couldn't be so bad, could they?

He wasn't quite sure of their intentions, however. He knew the strange warriors wanted to destroy him, he knew that the cat demons wanted to use him, but whatever the uniformed humans wanted with him was unclear, besides their desire to have him stay inside the building. Being confined was one thing he did not want, and one thing Berenice had promised him he would never have again once he joined her and Alexander.

He let his mind wander upon their first encounter which had started earlier.

"_Your Highness, I think we should take this with us. I do not trust those scholars at all." Berenice said, looking over at her male companion._

"_Why, did you overhear something? Do they plan to steal this artifact?" He asked._

"_All I will say for certain is that I do not think they are here to study it, Your Highness."_

"_Berenice, how many times have I told you? When it is just you and I speaking, you needn't use formalities. Just Alexander will do."_

"_Yes, You-…I mean, Alexander." Berenice gave a submitting sort of bow. _

_The door shifted behind them, and the duo turned around, their hands on their sheathed swords. Nothing more came from it, so they turned back around. _

"_Please…Alexander…I feel as if we should take it along. Don't you feel the need to take it away from here?"_

"_It goes against my better judgment to agree with you, because I know this will only make you feel validated enough to take it, but I do as well. I feel as if it's pulling itself towards me from its resting place…" Alexander reached out towards the Garnet Sun, then stopped and pulled back. "I heard a voice…beckoning me…" Alexander paled slightly while looking at Berenice. "It must truly contain a god if it can speak."_

"_Maybe the gods have chosen us to carry it…" Berenice replied._

"_Perhaps you were right after all…" Alexander commented softly. "This was your idea, Berenice. You take it with you."_

_An arrow sailed through the air, nearly missing Alexander's head, followed by another that Berenice grabbed and tossed away. The two turned around and drew their swords, finding a shifty looking scholar near the other end of the hall, surrounded by two Egyptian palace guards._

"_I told you that they were plotting to steal the Garnet of Ra…" The scholar said, grinning devilishly._

"_You liar!" Berenice shouted. The trio at the other end of the hall seemed content with her shock as they prepared to fire once again._

Mack's eyes opened as a pair of feet thudded on the roof behind him. Mig held his pistol and aimed it at Mack's head, and Mack panicked and rolled just in time to avoid a shot between the eyes.

"Hold still and let me kill you!" Mig shouted.

Mack gave Mig a dirty look as he got to his feet. Mack felt strong enough to handle this one on his own.

Behind the semi, Benglo gave chase on foot, hoping Mig had made his way without any problems. He passed by the Rangers' jeep, where Will and Rose were fighting it out with Kamdor, without a single shot being aimed in his direction. He then got up behind the ATV and the motorcycles, then began firing upon them.

Tyzonn looked back and snarled. "I got this one, guys. You two go get Mack for me." Tyzonn quickly morphed, then pulled a 180 and fired at Benglo.

"You waste your time, Mercurian! Mig should have turned that little runt into a smoldering pile by now!" Benglo shouted as Tyzonn revved up the ATV to charge at him.

Miratrix dodged the cars around her and leaped up onto the top of the semi.

"Buzz off, ninja girl! This Jewel's mine!" Mig said. Mack made a mental note of himself being surrounded.

"Oh, no you don't! You can have his corpse once I hack the Jewel outta his body!"

Mack looked back and forth between them, confused. He finally did realize, however, the fact that people were asking him to hand over himself was due to a lack of knowledge on their part. He silently wondered if everyone had this same lack of knowledge, that he was too visually convincing, and he smirked at the prospect that his thought was true.

"The Jewel is inside him? How did he manage that?" Mig cocked his head to the side, as if completely confused.

"I don't care, but I'm taking that Jewel back to Kamdor, regardless of whether he's in pieces or not!"

"Not if I do first! What a way to kill two birds with one stone!" Mig stated. The two charged at Mack and he dropped to the ground, letting the two collide into each other.

"Hey! My ex's up there! How'd she get back so quickly?" Dax shouted to Ronny. "Ugh…Ronny! You keep going! I'll take care of her!"

Dax spotted an off-ramp that shot up into a high rising bridge, and he took it.

Miratrix and Mig both grabbed one of Mack's arms and began having a tug of war match with him.

"He's coming with me, you mangy fleabag!" Miratrix shouted.

"In your dreams, you mophaired excuse for a warrior!" Mig shouted back.

"What did you say about my hair?" Miratrix fumed.

A blast to Mig's neck, followed by several more random shots, sent Mig flying off the top of the semi. Miratrix looked up and saw Dax riding above them and resisted the urge to smile. It was the first time she had ever thought positively about seeing any of the Rangers morphed and guns blazing.

Dax shot down a section of the guardrail and jumped it, leaping from his motorcycle and tackling Miratrix off the top of the semi. His abandoned bike nearly crushed Mack, and his split-second roll to the side prevented him from getting his skull crushed by it. He looked down and gave a dirty look as the semi rolled onwards towards a long suspension bridge.

Dax and Miratrix rolled across the four-lane highway, cars dodging every which way to keep from crushing them. They hit a guardrail, and Dax unmorphed and winced for a few moments, before realizing he had Miratrix pinned under him. He grinned in a cheesy manner. "Gimme some sugar, baby." Miratrix slapped him hard enough to leave imprints. He turns his head in time to see Ronny blazing by. "…ow."

"Get off me, you twit!" Miratrix shouted, shoving him off. Miratrix stood above him and drew out her last wakizashi, then kneeled over him and prepared to drive the blade through his chest.

"Hey, hey…have you changed your hairdo?" Dax asked. Miratrix stopped and gave him an odd look. "I…noticed that it's shorter. Just wanted to know before you stabbed me."

"Well, does it look bad?" She asked, using her spare hand to unconsciously try to make it look better.

"Well, it looks shorter. The bangs kinda…they divert from your eyes."

"You think?" She finally snapped back after a few seconds, and slapped him again. "Stop distracting me!"

"Ow! That one was uncalled for!" Dax shouted as he went back to keeping Miratrix from killing him.

Mack lied back down as the drone of the engines in the cars around him calmed him down. The revitalizing sun allowed him to feel carefree for the moment as he struggled to let his current memory finish itself.

_Alexander and Berenice charged the two archers, hacking their bows in half with their swords before turning the blades upon the bowmen, slitting their throats and dropping them both quickly. The duo then turned their swords on the scholar._

"_And where do you think you're going, Dragan?" Alexander snipped._

"_Your Highness, you understand that this…Garnet of Ra…can wipe out any army a man faces…you're unworthy of it, and so was your father."_

_Alexander thrust the sword forwards until the very tip touched Dragan's voicebox._

"_I'm sure the pharaoh would love to know that you're stealing his valuable treasures."_

"_This is something to be studied and to use wisely, not to cause wanton violence for the pleasure of doing so." Alexander replied in an unusually calm voice._

"_People like you don't deserve to know its true power." Berenice spat. "We're keeping it away from filth like you."_

"_You two are fools." Dragan grinned. "You are too late." Two metallic hooks with ropes attached shot upwards over the balcony and wrapped around the banister, allowing for their owners to climb up swiftly._

"_Curse you!" Berenice charged towards the Garnet Sun in a valiant effort to protect it._

_The left intruder sprang up and kicked over the pedestal, and the Garnet Sun fell out of place, smashing against the floor. _

_Berenice's screams warped and twisted at the memory seemed to shatter along with the Jewel…the last true thing he could see was Berenice leaning over the Sun with a look of horror painted on her face…_

"_It's broken, you idiot! It's useless!" Dragan shouted._

_As Berenice leaned down to collect the Jewel, the only thought left in Mack's mind reached out to her…_

…_Protect me…_

Mack's eyes slowly opened, and he saw Ronny's upside-down face leaning over him, her hands on his shoulders.

"Hey, you're alive." She smiled. "I couldn't really tell…I couldn't find your pulse." Ronny gave him an odd look, which Mack returned. A pulse…like a heartbeat?, he wondered. "So I guess you understand me now, eh?" Mack smiled slightly. "C'mon, sit up." She took her hands off his shoulders and he sat up, turning around.

"Are you okay? You've done a lot of fighting." Ronny asked. Mack slumped forwards a bit, as if tired. "C'mon then. I'll take you home." She reached out her hand, and Mack pulled away, giving her a dirty look. "Mack…" Ronny was entirely confused. "Don't you want to go home? Your father…and Spencer…all of us…ever since last night, we've been worried sick about you!"

The semi slowed to a stop halfway over the bridge as toll booths began collecting the fare. Mack jumped down off the semi, and Ronny gave chase. "MACK!" She shouted, dodging cars to run after him.

People began getting out of their cars to watch the scene unfold as Mack climbed up on the edge of the bridge that stood over the San Angeles Bay.

Ronny looked at him, shocked by his actions. "Mack…please tell me why you're doing this...why won't you come home with us?"

Mack searched his mind as quickly as he could, grabbing a hold of the support wire as the wind tossled his hair about. As soon as he knew the correct translation, he turned his head back to her and looked her straight in the eyes. "Berenice…you made a wish, and I…I am keeping it." Mack half-smiled as he let go of the support wire, then jumped.

"MAAAAAAAAAACK!" She kicked in her super speed and leaped off the bridge after him, firing her Zip Shooter at the ledge. The zipline suddenly stopped and jerked her too much, and Mack fell out of her reach. She gasped heavily, and tears welled up in her eyes. "MAAAAAAAAAACK!" She shouted again, as she watched him brace for impact far below. His body slammed into the water, creating a large splash, and all Ronny could do was cry as the rest of the Rangers, along with the rivaling factions and numerous civilians, began to arrive at, and form a crowd around, the scene at hand.


	5. Chapter Four: Five Search Parties

…_What is it you wish…?_

"_I wish you could have a life…a life like my king's. I wish you could have that sort of…existence. A life where no one forced you into anything…where you could experience this world as much as he can…where you have freedom, the freedom of choice."_

…_Choice…?_

"_It means to look upon your options and decide which one you want to do more than the other. It's sad that I must explain it to such an immaculate being such as yourself…"_

…_Forgive me…_

"_Do not ask for forgiveness. Do not submit yourself to tasks you do not support. Your wish is for freedom, and I wish for your chance to have a life that is full of it. Now, I need to rest, for King Alexander has us leaving this place tomorrow morning to fight some rebels in some province that I couldn't care less about. You try to rest as well…"_

…_As you wish…_

Mack's eyes closed slowly as his body violently reacted from the fall. His body went completely numb as tiny cracks shot through his crystalline frame and skin, marring his entire body and threatening to tear him apart. All he could do was let out a tiny whimper of pain as the San Angeles Bay's waves began to dictate where he was to go. All there was left for him to do was dream until his body worked once more.

Hundreds of feet above, Tyzonn began pulling Ronny up by her Zip Shooter's cord, finally lifting her up by her trembling hand. She looked at him, her face red and puffy from crying, her cheeks glistening from tears. She let go of her Zip Shooter and clinged tightly to Tyzonn, letting loose into hysterics. Tyzonn embraced her and gave a look to Rose and Dax, who were standing next to him, expressing a sort of disappointment for the outcome of their efforts.

"Alright, let's give them some room, everybody. Go back to your cars, there's nothing to see here…" Will began shooing the crowd of civilians away from the scene.

Miratrix and Kamdor looked at each other, wondering what the other was preparing to do in regards to this particular Jewel hunt. Mig, on the other hand, knew exactly what he wanted.

"We gotta go get him!" Mig shouted as he attempted to jump over the railing after Mack.

"Did you hit your head on the road too many times? You'll kill yourself!" Benglo shouted as he tugged on Mig's collar.

"Well, how else do you suggest we get the Jewel?"

"Don't you have any respect for the dead?" The two shut up and looked over at Miratrix, whose eyes were shooting daggers at them.

"And what respect do you have, mophead? You were going to hack the Red Ranger to pieces anyways! All you have to do now is pick him up and figure out which limb it's hiding in!"

"How dare you insult me for this? Can't you see they're mourning?" Miratrix said, holding her hand out towards the group.

"Ye…yeah! Have a little respect, will ya? This is your fault as much as it is everyone else's!" Dax shouted. Rose looked at him with a look of shock. "I mean…we're all to blame! You two…and Miratrix and Kamdor…and even us…we all scared him to death and chased him…to his death! Don't you have any shame?"

"The blue idiot's got a point." Miratrix added.

"Give the dead a moment of passing." Kamdor commanded. "Come Miratrix…we have things to do."

"One thing." Miratrix walked over to Dax, gave him a weak smile, then open-hand smacked him across the face. "Don't ever show me up in front of anyone again." She then walked off, leaving Dax to rub his aching cheek.

Will leaned back from his crowd taming and gave Dax a slick look. "She still digs you."

"You think?" Dax asked, looking at him.

"Totally. She just ain't gonna show it around her boss."

"Man, love really does hurt." Dax replied.

Rose leaned over the railing slightly, setting her Tracker into scanning mode, giving a curious look. Dax and Will walked over to her, equally as curious that the device was not responding.

"Do you think it's not picking anything up because of the water?" Will asked.

"We found the Cocoon in the sunken city of Atlantis, so I doubt it's that."

"Maybe Mack dropped the Jewel?" Dax suggested.

"…Mack is the Jewel." Rose said solemnly.

"…What?" Dax gave her an incredulous look.

"…I'll explain back in the mansion. Dax, since you trashed your bike, you take the ATV. I'll drive them back in the jeep."

"Alright, but you'd better be able to explain what you mean!" Dax replied.

Mig and Benglo watched the Rangers slowly dispersed. "The ninja and the Blue Ranger have a point. There's no use trying to track the Red Ranger right now…not with this big a crowd. We'll search the bay later."

"But I hate the water!" Mig shouted. Benglo stood dumbfounded for a moment, then dragged Mig off along with him.

Moltor stood in front of his lava monitor, entranced by the events that had unfolded so far. A trio of Lava Lizards stood by his side, and he turned to them. "I want you to scout the bay and take some Lavadactyls with you. Find this human and bring him back here in one piece!"

"Yes sir!" The Lava Lizards replied, saluting Moltor before leaving.

"I always knew that Red Ranger was a little odd…well now he'll just come in handy!" Moltor boasted to himself. His monitor opened up on its own as Flurious called him up.

"So, you've been holding out on this last Jewel as well, haven't you brother?" Flurious commented.

"You think you're going to retrieve the Jewel before me, do you?" Moltor shouted.

"On the contrary; I know I am." Flurious grinned widely before closing the transmission.

Flurious turned to the waiting Chillers and smiled. "You heard my threat, now go find the Red Ranger's body. He's somewhere in the bay, and chances are he's probably gone down too far to see on the surface, so try and get a single-man ice sub going, now! And find me Norg! I have a task for him." The Chillers saluted and marched off.

A half hour later, the Rangers returned back to the mansion, where Sentinel Knight was assisting Spencer in replacing the front door that Mack had smashed through.

"Welcome back, Rangers!" Sentinel Knight cheerily said as he stood to welcome them, but upon seeing Ronny's tear-drenched face, Dax's bruising cheeks, Mack's absence, and everyone else's gloomy dispositions, he realized that something was amiss. Spencer looked up and dropped his tools as the Rangers walked into the mansion in a somber manner.

"I know I've been out since yesterday, but what did I miss?" Sentinel Knight asked Spencer.

"It's a very long story, and I'd rather not go through it at the moment." Spencer replied in a gloomy tone.

Rose walked up to her room as Tyzonn gently sat Ronny down on the couch and took a spot next to her. Dax and Will sat on the floor in front of Ronny, giving her sympathetic looks.

Spencer walked in quietly, yet he still managed to draw the group's attention. "Would any of you like me to get you anything at all?"

"I could use an icepack for my face." Dax replied, rubbing his cheek.

"I'm fine." Will replied.

Ronny sat quietly, staring out blankly with her head seated on Tyzonn's bad shoulder. He had a mild look of pain, but it didn't seem to bother him as much as it should have. Tyzonn looked up at Spencer. "We just need some down time."

"As you wish, Master Tyzonn. I shall bring Master Dax his ice pack and then leave you be." He gave a brief smile, then walked out.

As he walked past Hartford's office, Hartford nearly burst through the doors, looking slightly pale. "Did they get Mack?"

Spencer gave a slightly depressed look. "…I'm afraid not, sir." Hartford gave a look of pure shock and terror as Spencer continued. "They look very tired and worn out, sir."

"…I see." Hartford replied, sounding completely depressed. "I'm going to go downstairs and see if I can't get a lock on his signal with the radar." Hartford swiftly made his way downstairs, trying to keep himself focused without breaking down.

_A scream rang out through the hallway outside Alexander's room. Berenice looked positively shocked, and the duo chased the figure into a small T-junction hallway, where the unknown figure ducked behind a pillar built into the wall._

_She looked between the two men she stood between; one stood bewildered, with an untamed mass of light brown hair and deep brown eyes, in half a suit of horse rider's armor, the other looking mousey as he cowered behind the pillar with similarly untamed light brown hair, green eyes like her own with a reddish tinge, wearing one of Berenice's bed sheets like a makeshift toga._

"_That's my favorite sheet!" Berenice shouted._

"_Who are you?" Alexander called out, slowly letting his hand fall to his sword._

"_Wait a moment…" Berenice said, grabbing his hand. "I feel this…strange feeling…that I know you. Do I know you?"_

_Berenice slowly approached the cowering figure, her hand slowly reaching outward._

"_Your Highness!" A guard from a doorway far off shouted, drawing Berenice's and Alexander's attention. "The soldiers are nearly all mobilized. They're being issued armor as we speak."_

"_That is good. We shall leave by high noon for Cairo. Make sure they're all well-equipped and that those sandals are sand-proof and well-made this time!" Alexander ordered. "I can't afford to have the feet of my soldiers bleeding and bandaged again from blisters. It makes it hard for them to fight."_

"_Yes, Your Highness."_

"_Now go. I have matters I need to attend to." Alexander ordered. The general left, leaving the two alone. "Now, about this-"_

_The cowardly figure had vanished into thin air._

"_Oh no…where did he go? Should we look for him?"_

"_I don't have the time."_

"_Dammit! I'll find him!"_

The bitter cold water of the bay chilled the cracks in Mack's skin and throughout his body, soothing the wounds. He smiled and welcomed the numbness as he tried to remember what happened next. His body was healing differently from before, but it felt more familiar…

Rose marched downstairs with a giant book labeled "Relics of Ancient Egypt" with a giant grin on her face. "I knew I recognized the Jewel in the tablet, and I'm never wrong when it comes to recognizing these kinds of things."

Tyzonn looked up in a look that almost said, "Don't you think your timing is bad for this?" and she frowned. "Well, I think this might help us with Mack. I don't think he's dead."

"…What?" Ronny said in a strained tone, her voice not fully healed from her hysterical crying.

"Will, do you remember what Miratrix said about Mack?"

"She said Mack wasn't human…" Will looked down for a moment. "So you think he's the Jewel?"

"I think that's the reason Hartford didn't want us finding the last piece of the Jewel. He said he already had found it, remember?"

"That note we found must've been written by him, too!" Dax chirped.

"So…this's our fault?" Ronny replied softly.

"Yes and no…but that just proves the Garnet Sun's power. The story is just amazing."

"You're just going to tell us anyways." Will replied. "Get on with it."

"Okay." Rose looked almost too cheerful as she began to read from the giant book.

"The Garnet of Ra, better known as the Garnet Sun for its unique shape that makes it look somewhat like a drawing of the sun, was a one-of-a-kind piece belonging to the pharaohs. Its power was said to derive from the sun's energy, and this energy was believed to be the energy source inside the large temple of Heliopolis, where sun-shaped grooves in walls reveal false walls inside once sunlight touches them. The legendary gem is also believed to have once been a central part of a ritual to the sun god himself, though records of such rituals, and even ones regarding the hidden doors themselves are well-hidden.

"There is one legend that the gem had played a part of a minor battle between the pharaoh and cultists outside of Memphis, in which the Sun's power was evoked, and at high noon, the sun shone directly through the gem and the rebels were incinerated." Rose looked up with a strange look on her face. "Well, that sounds like it's as powerful as a Jewel, alright." She continued on.

"Records of the pharaohs show that the gem disappeared from any record whatsoever after Alexander the Great's invasion of parts of Egypt during his long military campaign. There is a belief from those who know of this artifact that suggests that Alexander looted the temple at Heliopolis and stole the powerful artifact and used it to conquer most of what was left to conquer of the known world with it.

"One obscure legend even suggests that he used its power to become a god who needed 'neither sleep nor nourishment' to keep himself alive, and that his death was a guise for a needed break after his failure to conquer India. The obscure story tries to further its proof by suggesting that a man fitting Alexander's description accompanied the Lady Berenice (a member of Alexander's personal army) to a trip into Heliopolis three days after his supposed death. This story has been marked absurd by many in the community, but a scant few have tried to prove this true."

"…Berenice…" Ronny said to herself, drawing attention. "Mack called me Berenice."

"Really?" Rose asked.

"Right before he jumped…he said…'Berenice, you made a wish, and I am keeping it.' I…don't understand it…"

"Therein lies the great mystery." Spencer said as he walked in with an icepack for Dax. The group looked at him. "What only Mack can fill in for us remains to be known."

"What do you know about all this?" Rose asked.

"Master Hartford is the only one who can answer such things, I'm afraid," Spencer replied. "I would not suggest asking now, however, as he seems to be very distraught over Master Mack's disappearance."

"Anything he knows could help us get Mack home safely." Rose stated.

Ronny's face contorted in anger, and she suddenly stood up. "I'm sick of his cowardly attitude! If he hadn't tried to keep us from getting the Jewel piece, we wouldn't have gone and got it, and this wouldn't have happened! I've had enough!" She turned to Spencer. "Where is he?"

"…He is downstairs in the Command Center."

Ronny stormed downstairs, with Spencer and the rest of the group staring in awe.

Elsewhere…

"Have the humans grieved enough now?" Mig asked as Benglo tossed a pebble into the bay.

"Well, what're we gonna do? Swim around in the lake?" Benglo asked him. "We don't have a boat of any kind."

"I'm not going in the water!" Mig shouted. "…Do you think we can steal something from Flurious again?"

"If there's an ice cave with water around it, they've gotta have a boat." Benglo replied in a sly tone.

Meanwhile…

"So, how are we going to traverse the bay to find the Garnet of Ra?" Miratrix asked Kamdor.

"You're going to get me some building materials suitable to create a boat, and I will make one. Now go." Miratrix scrunched up her face and went off to get some wood and rope.

"Why is he pulling rank on me at a time like this…?" She muttered.

Far away from the mainland…

"Now where is that overgrown fur coat at?" Flurious muttered as he waited for Norg.

Suddenly, the rotund yeti came rolling down the slick ice slide, landing in his rear and getting to his feet with ease.

"Hello, Flurious!" Norg said in his usual dim tone while waving frantically. "Today is a fine day for catching herring for herring soup!"

"Uh…yes! Yes it is," Flurious quickly agreed with him. "Now, I have a task for you."

"Oh boy! A task. What is it?"

"I will say it slowly so that you remember, okay?"

"Okay!" Norg saluted Flurious.

"I want you…to go into town…and get warm clothes."

"Warm clothes? Why would you need warm clothes? Have you caught a cold? Maybe I should make you some chicken soup instead of herring soup! But where would I get chickens?"

"Shut up and go get some warm clothes from the town and bring them back here!" Flurious shouted as he suddenly lost his temper.

As Norg began to scamper off, he stopped him. "Wait! One last thing; I hope that your brain can handle two orders at once."

"I can do them one at a time!"

"Well whatever. If you should happen to see the Red Ranger floating in the bay, feel free to get him and bring him back here."

"Oh, is he coming to visit?" Norg asked. "Should I make him some soup too? Oh, should I get him a blanket, because if he's in all that water, he might be cold here!"

"Just go and follow the orders I've given you!" Flurious shouted.

"Yes, sir!" Norg then hobbled out to his boat.

"I wonder how my Chillers are doing…" Flurious brought up his monitor.

Meanwhile…

"Red Leader to Big Papa. No sign of Shiny Package. Over." The lead Lava Lizard of the Lavadactyl squad reported back to Moltor. His raspy lizard voice made the message sound gruesome.

"Enough with the strange lingo and fly a big closer to the water."

"You got it, Big Papa." The head Lava Lizard replied. "You heard'em. Fly closer to the drink!"

"You got it, Iceman!" One of the Lava Lizards replied back.

"Ugh…no more human movies for them."

Back at the Hartford Mansion…

Ronny stomped downstairs into the Command Center, though her anger did not seem to draw Hartford's gaze away from the Jewel Radar's widescreen monitor, which was currently centered on the bay area.

"I want the truth." Ronny said sternly. Again, she could not draw his attention. She grimaced. "Fine, if you won't tell me about Mack, then I'm leaving Operation Overdrive and Mack can just get picked up by Moltor for all I care."

"Then go ahead and leave." Hartford replied in a defeated tone. "I won't stop you. What use is finding him if he obviously doesn't want to return? If he's forgotten everything again like he did before? I won't do the same thing twice to him…"

Ronny stood, silenced. "I knew you wouldn't go." A miniscule smile crept up in the corners of his mouth for a fleeting moment.

"We know about what the books say about the Garnet Sun, now we want to know what you know."

Hartford looked up at the monitor and watched as black spheres circled around the map. "I'm afraid it will have to wait a little while longer." He sounded the alarm, causing Ronny to look at him.

"What're those?" She asked, pointing out the black splotches on the radar.

"Those're signatures of various Jewel Radars belonging to the other groups. I suppose that nobody's taking a break."

"And here I thought at least Miratrix and Kamdor were going to back down for a while."

The Rangers ran downstairs and joined Ronny.

"What's going on?" Rose asked, sitting the book down on the main table.

"That doesn't look good." Dax commented.

"Five groups are scouring the bay, looking for Mack. I hate to do this, but I have to divide you." Hartford sighed and began thinking over who was best for each task.

"Don't worry. We won't let them get Mack." Tyzonn chimed in. "We won't give up."

"…Alright. I want…I want Tyzonn to follow this one surrounding the bridge on the ATV. Ronny, take the SHARC and follow that group on the other side of the bay. Dax, I want you to take the Sonic Streaker and follow those fast-moving units. Rose, there's a faint set of signals coming from the north. I want you to take the Sub Driver there. Will, there's a lone unit coming from the north and diverging. You take the bike and chase it down."

"Let's go." Will said, the group quickly mobilizing behind him.

As the Rangers left, Spencer slowly walked in, arms crossed behind his back. "If I do say so sir, I am shocked by your sudden brush with leadership…and I am impressed, to say the least."

"I will not let any of them touch a hair on Mack's head." Hartford replied with an underlying coldness in his tone. "If anyone is to blame, it's me. I was too worried about them finding out, and not worried enough to handle the consequences." He looked down and swallowed hard. "Besides, I owe it to Mack to make up for the first time. I won't repeat my mistake."

"I'm sure Mack would be very appreciative of the effort you're putting in to ensure his safety."

"Like he seemed so appreciative before." He turned around, a cold aura seeming to surround him as he focused upon the console once more. Spencer waited in silence for several moments before realizing that he could be of no more help. He simply nodded to himself and left.

_Endless miles of desert stretched around an army that looked entirely out of place. In the middle stood the terrified young man who had recently escaped Alexander and Berenice's grasp, clinging to his spear like a lifeline. He pulled his helmet down as far as it would go to avoid being picked out of the crowd._

_A man on a horse rode about in front of the army, the site of the rebellion behind him. "Now is the time to show the strength of our fearless leader! Charge in, hack through them, and leave no man alive! Devour their army like a pack of wild dogs!"_

_The army around him cheered and thrusted their spearheads upwards, while the quiet stranger stood and began wondering what the purpose was of killing everyone._

"_Now, I am looking for a few men to infiltrate the caravan that will be passing through later. I need only a few men to go inside and assess how many warriors there are. Who will go?"_

_The young stranger saw his opportunity for knowledge and grinned. "I will!" He shouted._

"_I'll go too!" A man several rows back shouted, raising his spear._

"_Fine. You two come and take these disguises and wait out there on the main road for the caravan. You two are going to say you were separated from your caravan and are lost, and that you'd like to go to the next town to ask around about your caravan. Can you two handle that?"_

"_It would be our honor." The young stranger replied._

_Several hours later, the two soldiers spotted the caravan, and through a stroke of luck, successfully joined the caravan into the rebelling province. The stranger's partner thanked the caravan, and the two broke away to observe the troops._

_The young stranger gazed around in awe; for all of his knowledge of the world, nothing could have prepared him for being in the middle of a ransacked merchant hub like this town. The town itself looked to be recently stormed and partially razed, and the town's current structure was built around the damages._

_Street performers charmed snakes and ate fire for spare change, while food vendors offered a look at their fruits, clothes, and jewelry, all of which he might've considered if he had any money. Young women paraded around with jugs of water on their heads, heading off to the salvaged homes to cook or clean for the rest of the day. A few of them winked at him as they walked by, and he gave a weak smile back to them. Children ran about in every direction amongst the broken and abandoned homes like rats, occasionally coming up and begging for money and food from him. He shooed them away as he continued onwards._

_After nearly an hour of walking about, he spotted a large crowd, including his partner, surrounding the outer wall of the central pavilion. He walked over to see what was going on. _

_A small group of rebel guards rode around a small crowd of bound-up civilians who appeared to be in a high social class._

"_You dare oppose our takeover? Do you think your great king Alexander cares about what happens to you?" The apparent ringleader shouted at them. "He has abandoned you to destroy the rest of the world, and yet you stay loyal!"_

_A young woman with long black hair and fair skin who was dressed in little more than a ragged pile of sheets ran into the center, darting through the guards and reaching an older man in the crowd._

"_Master! Just give in, please!" She shouted. The man grimaced and kicked her back._

"_Hold your tongue, servant!" He spat at her._

_The young stranger's eyes opened widely as a rebel soldier grabbed the young woman by her hair and dragged her out of the ring and out of the pavilion through the archway he stood near. He turned around and watched as the soldier toss her into the wall and began smashing her with the butt end of his falchion. His hands twitched as he held back his anger and need to stop the guard, but he knew he was outnumbered._

_As she dropped to the ground, the guard walked back to the pavilion, giving the young man a dirty look to match the young stranger's._

_He walked out to the young woman and picked her up while looking for a decent abandoned building. He spotted the perfect place; a two story building, nearly intact, with a crumbled roof. He slung her over his shoulder and carried her inside._

_He walked up to the second floor and lied her down as comfortably as he could get her in the debris. She breathed heavily as he brushed the hair out of her face and wiped the blood off her skin. He looked up at the sun and sighed, then placed his hand on her forehead. _

_He channeled his energy through her body, resetting bones, closing open wounds, and dulling bruises until she was fully healed. She looked up at him and weakly smiled._

"_Are you…Imhotep…?" She weakly asked. _

"…_No, sorry." He replied. "Are you feeling better?"_

"_They will kill me…they will kill my master…"_

"_How can you think of him in that way? He threw you to the guards!"_

"_Nobody would take me in but him! I'll die without him!"_

"_Then leave. Get as far away as you can. Go to another town and make a living there."_

_The young woman sat up. "But I am a slave…"_

"_I was a slave as well. That means nothing."_

_Her eyes widened up. "…They did not kill you?"_

"_They tried to…but they could not break my spirit. I was rescued too, given a chance to make my choice, as I am here with you now…and I took it. Today, I am here, advising you to do the same. You have a choice to stay here, or leave."_

"_Then I shall leave." She smiled widely and embraced him. "Thank you, so much…" Tears of joy welled up in her eyes._

"_You are welcome." He replied, patting her back lightly in response. "Now, let's get you better prepared to leave, starting with your attire." He helped her to her feet, then began digging around for a wardrobe chest._

_It took less than a half an hour to get her situated; the resonating sound from the pavilion echoed through the near-empty streets. She stood beneath the final archway leading outwards, she stood, frozen. The caravan was setting itself up less than twenty feet away. She looked back at the stranger._

"_What do I do from here?" She asked nervously._

"_You go and ask to accompany them. Tell them of your skills."_

_She looked back out to the caravan, then back to him. "Will you ever be in Heliopolis?"_

"_Maybe, someday, if I am lucky." He replied._

_She nodded, looking back at the caravan. "I know not your name."_

"_My name is not important."_

"_But who will I pray to Ra for?" She smiled, and he understood._

_He thought for a moment for a name to give her. He had very few names he knew for either gender, and he certainly couldn't pick Alexander, as much as he wanted to._

"_Dragan." He finally replied. "My name is Dragan."_

"_Thank you, Dragan. May you find peace in life." She said, taking her first step towards the caravan._

The cold currents sent a chill up Mack's spine, snapping him into reality for several moments. A large black shadow shot over the water like a monstrous bird of prey, the water rippling and tossing him about in its wake. He closed his eyes and continued to dream. The best, to him, was yet to come.

Above, Dax soared through the air in the Sonic Streaker. "Whoa…this is intense!" He said to himself. "I know how Mack feels flying this thing…" Suddenly, an alarm went off and the radar showed numerous units coming up on his right side. "Oh crap…this can't be good."

Tyzonn revved the engine of the ATV and cruised through the streets leading towards the signals he was sent to, darting around cars and pedestrians and trying to maintain a constant high speed. As he approached his destination, he scoffed. "Figures. I get the Fearcats."

Rose continued her trek through the bay, a smooth blues tune playing as she cruised about. "I wonder where these guys are…could they survive underwater?" She eventually ran into several small subs made of waterproof clay and carved permafrost. "Huh. That's something new." Rose muttered, preparing to attack.

Ronny arrived at her destination, parking the S.H.A.R.C in a safe spot before continuing to track down the signal she was picking up. After a minute, she hid behind a rock as she watched Miratrix and Kamdor trying to locate Mack.

"If they think they're gonna get a hold of Mack, they're really wrong." Ronny muttered to herself.

Mack shivered slightly as he was tossed around in the icy currents.

"_Our scouts report that there is a small sized army within the city. They will be no match for us, so we shall make this quick. __Psiloi__, front line!" The general shouted. The young stranger adjusted his armor while marching forward. Suddenly, without warning, a black cloud of pila flew through the air at them. "Rain!" The general shouted, causing the army to quickly duck underneath their shields. As several soldiers in the young stranger's line became impaled the general began to shout once more. "Their cavalry is coming! Thureophoroi, engage!" _

_The young stranger stood up and pulled a pilum out of the sand in front of him as he scanned the camel riders' faces. He recognized them all, and one in particular set off a burning rage from deep within. He took the pilum, aimed quickly, and threw with all of his strength._

Above the bay, Dax barrel rolled to dodge balls of lava being fired at him by the small group of Lavadactyls. "Great, three on one? No fair!" He shouted as he looped upwards, falling back to flank them and firing a few laser blasts at the Lavadactyls.

"Take that!" Dax shouted, the last two shots blasting through the left wing of the middle Lavadactyl. "Haha!"

The two remaining Lavadactyls realized the attack as their team leader spiraled into the drink, and they stopped and let Dax cruise by them, unaware of their sudden stop.

"Great, they're following me again." He muttered to himself.

The Fearcats turned around as they heard the ATV fast approaching. "Well well, if it isn't the Mercurian, rushing to play the hero!" Mig taunted as Tyzonn drifted to a stop. He took off his helmet and set it on the seat.

"Overdrive Accelerate!" Tyzonn quickly morphed and drew out his Drive Detector, switching it to Blaster Mode. "If you think you're getting anywhere near Mack, you're sorely mistaken."

"Well, if you think you're the one who's gonna keep us away from him, then you're the one who's sorely mistaken!" Benglo replied. Mig and Benglo opened fire upon Tyzonn, and Tyzonn replied by leaping in the air to dodge the shots while firing off a few rounds of his own.

The Fearcats followed him into the air and slashed his chest with the tops of their pistols. Sparks erupted from his suit and he dropped to the ground in pain.

"Well, he's not only sorely mistaken, but now he's just plain sore!" Mig joked.

"Overdrive Accelerate!" Ronny shouted, taking the ninjas by surprise. She ran out with her Driver Defender already in Blaster Mode, firing upon the completely surprised duo.

"Ugh, she found us!" Miratrix stated in anger.

"She's alone. This will be nothing." Kamdor replied.

"You guys wanna see something really inhuman? I'll show you inhuman!" Ronny summoned her Drive Claws and charged at them full force.

"Taking offense to the truth?" Miratrix asked, pulling out her roped kunai out and looping Ronny's feet together with it. She dragged Ronny over towards her. "We're gonna hack your little Red Ranger to pieces until we find that Jewel, and there's nothing you're going to be able to do about it."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Ronny dropped her Drive Claws and whipped out her blaster, shooting through the kunai's rope with ease. She scrambled to her feet and opened fire, nearly missing the ninjas, but sending them flying through the air from the blast's impacts behind them.

Rose hummed along with her music as she began targeting her gyro blaster at the nearest frozen clay sub. "Not sure, just how these things work, but I don't care, because I'll blow them away, with a single blast from the cannon" She sang to herself to the beat of the song.

She fired up her weapon's gyro; a secondary gyro in a hollow chamber in the front of her Sub Driver used only for its built purpose. The gyro spun about at a rapid speed, making the air inside the chamber hot and pressure-filled.

"Chamber blast, fire!" Rose shouted with glee, pressing the fire button on her controls.

A long, thin nozzle pressed out of the front end of the Sub Driver and the pressurized chamber opened, forcing the pressurized hot air through the nozzle, shooting it out at the sub in front of her.

The front of the enemy sub began to literally melt away, along with the similarly composed Chiller. What was left of both Chiller and ship began to sink to the bottom of the bay.

Rose kept her pace while continuing to hum along until she melted down every sub in sight. "Ah, there we go. All done." She called into the Command Center.

"Receiving your call, Madame Rose." Spencer sounded.

"Ugh, where's Mr. Hartford?"

"He has gone upstairs for a moment. Is there something you needed?"

"I was just reporting in to say I got the chiller subs out here, and that I'm just gonna cruise around the see if I can pick up Mack's signal."

"I will let Master Hartford know. Good work."

"Thank you, Spencer." Rose logged off.

Hartford walked downstairs, seemingly summoned by the sound of Spencer's voice. "Did they find anything?"

"Not yet, sir, but Rose has the freedom to search."

"Good. Good. I'm…going to go do some long-overdue paperwork. Call me if anything changes."

"Will do, sir."

Will stopped his motorcycle just short of his target, as people were running by, screaming. He used his Super Sight to see the far off scene.

_A large furry body was walking in and out of shops with a large bundle of fabrics in his arms._

"Figures." Will huffed as he ran up to Norg. "Hey, stop right there." He said as he approached the blanket-toting yeti. Norg dropped his blankets and threw his arms up.

"Oh, it is the Black Ranger again!" Norg proclaimed. Will scrunched up his face from the smell.

"Put your arms down." He asked as nicely as he could.

"Have you captured me again?" Norg asked.

"Yes, I've captured you again. Now you're going to have to tell me what you're doing here."

"I am getting blankets and warm clothes for Flurious." He stood proudly and announced.

"Blankets…and warm clothes…?" Will asked, not sure why someone who was frozen over needed warm clothes.

"Yes, because Flurious has a cold." Norg nodded. "I am also going to get some chickens to make chicken soup to make him all toasty inside!" Norg nodded in absolute certainty.

"…Right…" Will had no idea what he was going on about, as it made no sense logically, but there was nothing he could see suggesting that Norg was even attempting to find Mack like everyone else. "You're looking for some chicken soup?"

"Uh huh!" Norg nodded.

"Okay, um…" He leaned into the corner market and got him a can of chicken soup with noodles. "Here. And pick up those blankets and go home. I've got more important things to deal with."

"Yes, sir!" Norg saluted Will, but dropped the blankets once again.

"Right." Will gave an annoyed look. "You're free to go…once you pick up those blankets."

He turned around and called the base.

"Yes, Master Will?" Spencer asked.

"I got a false alarm. Norg is wandering around getting blankets for Flurious…because he's come down with a cold."

"I see." Spencer replied in a confused tone.

"Does anybody need my services?" Will asked. "I've got nothing better to do." He quipped.

"Tyzonn is not far away from your position; about a few minutes north of your position. He looks like he could use a little help."

"Right. On my way."

Meanwhile, Ronny used her Drive Claws as a small shield to prevent the blades of both Miratrix and Kamdor from striking her. She then retaliated by punching forwards and knocking them back.

"How'd you get so strong?" Miratrix asked, taking a defensive stance.

"Anger is a powerful weapon." Kamdor commented.

"You think I'm angry now? You haven't seen me angry!" Ronny shouted, charging at Miratrix. Kamdor grinned to himself behind the veil of his faceguard and jumped out in front of Ronny, slashing at her helmet and partially cracking the visor.

Ronny spun from the impact and slammed to the ground. She got up and growled, then began to attack Kamdor. He blocked her wild swings with his katana, then sliced her chest diagonally, sending her flying as her suit sparked.

She hit the ground hard and groaned as she dropped her Drive Claws.

"As I was saying, anger is a powerful weapon that is best used against the wielder." Kamdor said as he looked back at Miratrix, who was grinning.

Ronny held her chest and slowly got to her feet. "I won't…let you…capture Mack…"

"Why? Are you afraid we'll use him as a weapon? That's all he is, Yellow Ranger. Everything about him that you know has been a façade. A lie to hide himself." She pulled out another roped kunai and prepared to throw it. Ronny watched and slowly let her right arm drop beside her blaster without suspicion. "The sooner you let yourself believe that, the less pain you'll go through."

Miratrix tossed out the kunai and Ronny, expecting the move, drew her blaster from its holster. She shot the metal kunai away, and Miratrix reacted by grabbing the string and swinging the kunai, having it wrap around the blaster, surprising Ronny. As Miratrix yanked the blaster from her hand, Kamdor summoned one of his wind energy blasts, causing an explosion which sent Ronny flying back once again.

Ronny dropped out of transformation and clutched her chest.

Dax began maneuvering around the Lavadactyl's blasts. "Man, this's a lot harder than that motorcycle chase scene I did in the yakuza movie…these guys are totally relentless!"

He pulled into a nosedive, forcing the Lavadactyls to follow him. "I hope you guys can keep up!" The two Lavadactyls followed him intently, firing off lasers in his direction.

He lined his break off from the spiral directly below the bridge, just barely above the water's surface. He suddenly jolted out of the spiral and flew gently across the surface of the bay. The Lavadactyls trailing him, however, could not react as fast and crashed into the bay.

"Haha! Hope you guys can swim!" Dax shouted. He called the Command Center. "Hey, I'm coming back to base. I can't really make out anything on the water, so I don't think I'll be much help."

"Master Dax, Ronny needs a bit of help with Miratrix and Kamdor."

"Alright, I'm there!"

Will finally arrived in time to watch Tyzonn get fired upon by Mig, which knocked the Mercury Ranger back a few feet.

"Not so fast, furball!" Will shouted, firing a few blasts from his Drive Defender. He stopped the bike near the ATV and ran up to Tyzonn.

"You okay?" Will asked.

"I'll be okay." Tyzonn replied, clasping his Drive Detector and using it as a prop to get to his feet.

"Well now it's a fair fight!" Benglo proclaimed. "No more handicaps!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Will replied. He summoned up his Drive Slammer and leaped into the air. Tyzonn converted his Drive Detector into its blaster mode and fired a few shots at the Fearcats to distract them as Will dropped down and slammed Mig on top of his head with his long hammer.

"Ah! Damn you!" Mig shouted, stumbling back while holding his head.

"You're next!" Will shouted, swinging at Benglo.

Dax landed the Sonic Streaker near the S.H.A.R.C and ran out in Ronny's defense.

"Well look what the tide dragged in." Miratrix quipped.

Dax ignored her and helped Ronny up. "You get to safety, I'll fight them."

"I'll stay. Lemme catch my breath." Ronny replied, falling back down to the sandy ground below her feet.

"I'll handle him." Miratrix snarled.

"Be my guest. I'll be off getting the Garnet." He took two steps away, only to have Ronny standing in front of him after a quick Super Rush.

"I don't think so." Ronny replied. She quickly morphed and drew her Drive Defender in its Sword mode to block the swiftly drawn katana that Kamdor tried striking her with. "I'm worn out, but I'll fight you until I black out if I have to."

"You care so much for the Garnet…"

"Because for the last seven months, the Garnet has been one of my best friends through thick and thin, and he has been my leader for that long, and I could care less if he's a Jewel or not, but he's a human to me and that's all that matters!" Ronny kicked him back, stunning him slightly.

Miratrix sheathed her wakizashi and charged at Dax. Dax stared in awe, unsure of what she was doing. She tackled him to the ground and grinned, pulling back her arm for a new round of bitchslaps. As her hand came down, Dax caught it, surprising the both of them. He took the opportunity to slap her and rotate them, setting him on top of her. Her eyes widened and she punched him with her free hand, then rolling them back to the first position.

Ronny and Kamdor continued their fight until Ronny finally proclaimed, "What the hell are they doing out there?" Kamdor turned around and watched as Dax, who was tugging on the long ponytail Miratrix had grown, was kicked away by Miratrix into the crashing waves of the bay.

"Indeed…what are they doing?" Kamdor replied, sheathing his sword as Dax leaped up and tackled Miratrix to the ground.

"You miserable Ranger!" She shouted, kneeing him in the gut.

"You…stupid ninja!" He replied, slapping her.

"Didn't your mother teach you to never slap a girl?" Miratrix shouted, rolling him on his back.

"I think you're a good exception!" He shouted, pushing her off of him. The two clamored to their feet again and took fighting poses.

The two charged at each other and clamped their hands down on each others' throats, throwing dirty looks as best as they could. They leaned in closer, as if the action would make the other faint faster. Their faces were mere inches apart before they were interrupted by the beeping of Ronny's and Dax's morphers.

Ronny answered hers. "Hello?"

"Ronny, everyone…I have good news and bad news."

"Go for it."

"Good news is, I don't think anybody besides us has a hold of Mack."

"Bad…?" Ronny feared what she was about to hear.

"…I can't find him anywhere in the bay. In fact, if anything…he's out in the ocean by now. We have to regroup."

Miratrix's eyes narrowed and she suddenly headbutted Dax, making him let go of her and wince. She threw him to the ground below. "We've wasted our time. Let's go."

Kamdor turned to Ronny. "We shall finish this later." Both he and Miratrix leaped into the air and vanished.

Ronny ran to Dax's side; he looked completely disoriented. "Dax, are you gonna be okay?"

Dax grinned a wide, cheesy grin. "Our lips totally touched. Will was totally right."

Ronny rolled her eyes. "Ugh…get up."

"…I can't. The planet's spinning." He replied, giving a pained look.

"You heard her. Mack's not here, so scram!" Will shouted to the Fearcats.

"You may think you've got us fooled, Rangers," Mig started.

"but we're not that stupid!" Benglo finished.

"We've got you chumps beat anyways!" The two ran off.

"Let's get going." Will said.

"We can't waste time if Mack's still out there." Tyzonn replied.

Rose sighed and turned the Sub Driver around, realizing that the tight knot in her chest must have been what Ronny experienced on the bridge.

_The battle died down and the young stranger looked around at the carnage. His comrades lied around him, impaled and wounded and tired, and pila and arrows lined the ground, making it look like a porcupine of sorts._

_He smiled to himself as he clearly identified all of the pavilion guards that he himself had killed off himself, starting with the one who had attacked the young woman. He felt a sense of accomplishment as he walked through the body pile._

_The sound of hooves pounding through the sand as Alexander and his Companion cavalry assessed the casualties seemed to snap the young stranger out of his reverie._

_Out of the corner of his eye, Alexander spotted the young stranger and stopped himself. He ordered his cavalry to continue onwards as he dismounted. He approached the young stranger and grabbed his shoulder, startling him. Alexander had to blink for a few moments, as the resemblance between himself and this warrior on the field was stunning, to say the least. Minor differences here and there where his features resembled Berenice slightly more than his own, but from far away, he was sure nobody would know the difference._

_Berenice rode up behind them, drawing their attention. "Well, look at who we've found…" She joked. "Mind talking to us now?"_

"_Of course, Lady Berenice." He replied._

Norg finally arrived back at Flurious's palace carrying the armload of blankets and warm clothes. "Flurious! I did it!" Norg shouted.

Flurious stood, dumbfounded by the yeti's apparent success. "I…am impressed."

"I brought you some warm wool blankets, and some sweaters and warm trousers, and a can of chicken soup! You'll feel better in no time!"

"Well, I'm, ugh, feeling a little better now!" He replied, still unsure as to why the yeti believed that he was ill. "You just…keep those here and I'll take care of them. You go…do what you were doing."

"Okay!" Norg sat the bundle on the floor and saluted Flurious. "I am coming, little herring! You will be a yummy soup…" He shouted as he ran out.

"Well, there's gotta be a first time for everything…right?" He muttered to himself as he walked over to the cloth bundle.

Norg walked out to his herring nets and began pulling them up. He marveled at the bounty he had accumulated, despite the frigid water. "We'll have enough food for a year!" He said to himself. "Oh, today has been a good day!" He exclaimed as he pulled up his second net.

He tugged on the third net's pulley, but it tugged back in response. "Huh?" He tugged again, but it didn't budge. "Oh boy, the net's caught on a pointy rock again…"

Flurious started organizing the mess of sheets, but was disturbed by Norg's frantic shouting. "Flurious! FLURIOUS!"

Flurious stood up and looked at the frantic yeti, his eyes widening as he eyed the figure slumped over his shoulder. "Look what I found sleeping with the herring!"

He flopped Mack to the ground, looking frozen to death and bleeding from various minor cuts in his skin, the prospect looked very grim. However, the jolt to the floor seemed to awaken him, and kicked him immediately into a hacking fit. A copious amount of water splashed across the floor as Mack struggled to clear out his lungs.

One heavy-handed pat from Norg caused Mack to cough up a small herring. "Wow, you caught a herring too? You're very talented, Red Ranger!" Norg praised.

After a few gasping breaths, Mack collapsed face-first to the ground. "Oh, I think he's tired, Flurious." Norg replied.

Flurious stared in awe; never had anything so dead-looking turned out to actually be alive. "Well ugh…dry him off…and bring him to the observatory."

"Yes, sir!"

"And get a few Chillers outside the door."

"Will do!" Norg saluted Flurious, then grabbed some blankets.


	6. Chapter Five: Their Sordid Desires

_The brisk autumn blew the leaves on the Hartford Mansion's lawn into the air, a few passing by the figure sitting upon the roof. A forlorn look was painted on the young man's face as he stared up at the overcast sun. The bulky parts of his oversized green sweater and his slightly grown out dirty blonde locks flapped about in the breeze as a green and brown leaf blew past his head. _

_He caught the leaf and held it at eye level, looking through the chewed out holes, trying to examine it. To everyone around him, it was commonplace to see a leaf like this blowing about this time of year. However, to him, it was a bizarre thing from a foreign world thousands of miles away from his land of origin._

_It took him a moment to comprehend what the lines in the leaf's paper-thin composition were for until he tried equating it to the human anatomy. "Oh. Veins." He said to himself in his own words, ones the people watching him below would not understand. _

_He noticed that the brown splotches revealed a void of life in the somewhat vigorous object in his grasp, and it confounded him. He delicately shielded the leaf from the wind and tried to channel his energy into it to revitalize it. A burst of sudden life sprang forth, and in the friction of the transfer, it ignited, surprising the young man._

_He dropped the leaf upon the roof, letting it burn an imprint into the white marble. He sat there and watched the living bits of leaf turn black and burn along with the dying splotches. He hadn't experienced such an interesting transfer of energy before, and the emerging fact that something that was only half-living took so long to disappear completely in a blaze of fire was, at the very least, intriguing. _

_Everything around him was strange and new and terrifying, especially the two people who stood on the front lawn staring at him._

"_Is he now burning things on my roof?" Hartford asked Spencer, a hint of annoyance in his tone._

"_I presume so, sir." Spencer replied._

_Hartford sighed deeply, his hands placed on his hips. "What is it with him and setting things on fire? Paper, leaves, he nearly lit the leather couch on fire…"_

"_Perhaps it is not his fault…perhaps it is merely accidental, or perhaps out of an odd sort of curiosity, not so different from the one you had in your youth when you would barbecue ants on the front steps." Spencer said with a cheery tone as he reminisced. _

"_Yeah, well try telling my state-of-the-art laptop he fried this morning that he short-circuited it out of 'curiosity'." He bluntly replied._

"_I highly doubt sitting the poor thing down and lecturing him was the proper course of action, because he hasn't come down from there all day after you practically chased him up there from your bellowing."_

"_Even if I tried apologizing, he doesn't understand a damn word I'm saying. It's no better than talking to the wall, or to an actual garnet."_

"_Patience, sir. You must have patience. You can't just scold a child when they make a mistake, because children tend to do what they are told not to by their parents. Much like how you acted when you were young, if I do remember correctly." Hartford scoffed as Spencer continued. "If you want any sort of advice from me, I'd suggest writing down a set of rules that he is to follow, including a rule that specifically states no touching electronic devices and no lighting things on fire."_

"_Well, unless I magically learn Latin, or he magically learns English or a language that I know more than customaries in, we're not going anywhere any time soon."_

"_Patience, sir. If you wish to be a good parent, you must be patient."_

"_I can't just lounge around the house being patient! I've spent eight years looking for the Corona Aurora, and-" _

_The words drew the young man's attention suddenly, and Hartford noticed. A look of intrigue was painted on the young man's face, which quickly spread to Hartford's._

"_I think you have struck a chord, sir."_

"_Maybe patience is worth it this time." Hartford replied. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hey! Do you know anything about the Corona Aurora?" The young man cocked his head to the side, trying to understand more than the two words he could pick out._

_Hartford made his way to the ladder the young man had set against the wall, causing him to panic. "Hey, don't panic. I just want to talk." Hartford said._

"_Desinos! Emoves!" He shouted, kicking the top rung of the ladder away from the wall. Hartford quickly grabbed hold of the edge of the roof as the ladder crashed to the ground. Spencer hurried over to grab the ladder as Hartford dangled._

_The young man looked precariously at Hartford, blinking. "Te stulta est." He muttered before offering his hand._

"…_Sure." Hartford replied, taking his hand. The young man smiled and pretended to let go, scaring Hartford a bit, but he decided to take pity upon Hartford and helped him up onto the roof._

Hartford sat upon the roof, tracing the old burn marks with the tip of his finger. The cool summer breeze ruffled his shirt collar, and it brought along memories of that first day once again. It had been nearly two years since-

"Sir." Spencer drew Hartford's attention away from his reverie, and Hartford looked down at his butler. "The Rangers have reported back. They are waiting for you."

"I'll…I'll be down…soon."

"I will let them know then."

In the Glacial Observatory…

Norg layered another blanket on top of Mack's shivering body, then sat down next to him. "Oh, I hope that the herring did not break anything…"

The room itself was a dome of translucent ice sitting above a layer of permafrost. The room had been enchanted by Flurious to always remain ice cold for the Chillers, Norg, Flurious, and any other ice dweller that might wander in while it was not in use. Its main function was to be used as an anti-air detection room with full view of whatever was flying around the base's rear and sides, as well as a room for storing mass amounts of anything that needed to be stored temporarily. The sun's rays were amplified in the room, giving Mack an extra pick-me-up as he recovered.

Norg had substituted his sopping wet pajamas for some of the winter clothes he had picked up from earlier to prevent the Red Ranger from catching pneumonia, then wrapped him up in every blanket he could find. His clothes were hanging on a line in the back of the room.

Flurious marched in, pushing the Chiller guards out of his way. "Is he breathing yet?" He impatiently asked Norg.

"Yes, the Red Ranger is breathing, but he is very cold. I warmed him up with the blankets and clothes like you asked, but he is still very very cold. See? His lips are still kinda blue." Norg bent down and poked Mack's lips.

"…I see…" Flurious replied in a confused yet semi-assuring tone. "Well, get him healthy. I want to speak with him."

"Yes sir, Mr. Flurious sir!" Norg saluted Flurious, who promptly stormed out. Norg poked Mack's forehead, making Mack's head roll a bit in his blanket cocoon. "Please wake up soon…"

Flurious walked into his throne room, and received a message from a heavily gloating Moltor. "I see you've given up the chase, brother!" He proclaimed.

Flurious decided to put up a façade, lest he have Lava Lizards on his doorstep. "For the moment, I have."

"Ha! As I suspected. Lost hope in getting the Red Ranger before me, I take it?"

"On the contrary, my dear brother. I am merely building up my forces to find him once the Rangers appear to have spotted him. Their retreat can only mean that they haven't a clue where he is, and since my Chillers didn't find him the first time either, we're going to try a new strategy. I am sure that I will be successful…unless you've taught those overgrown geckos how to swim." Flurious grinned.

"We'll find him for sure! You'll see!" Moltor laughed as Flurious closed the connection.

"Oh, if you only knew you've already lost…"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ice floe…

"Are you sure of this? That the Garnet Sun is here?" Miratrix asked Kamdor as they trudged through the snow.

"Why would I be uncertain all of a sudden?" Kamdor replied. "You don't trust me?"

"I do…but…how did it get here?"

Kamdor spotted the fishing lines out in the distance. "I'm sure I know exactly how…"

The sound of footsteps nearby drew their attention.

"Well, well, well. Look what the ocean kicked up." Benglo chided.

"We don't have time to play around with these two. The Garnet Sun is here!" Mig shouted.

"You take care of these two. I will get the Jewel." Kamdor said.

"But what if you need help?"

"I am a powerful warrior. I don't need any help."

"What if I need help?"

"I doubt you will need it against these two." Kamdor then departed.

"But…wait!" Miratrix sighed deeply as she turned to face the Fearcats.

"Abandoned by your fearless leader, eh? I take it he either has too much confidence in you, or he just doesn't care if we break you in half." Benglo commented.

"Kamdor trusts that I can handle you two twits on my own."

"Says the girl who's repeatedly defeated by the Rangers." Mig taunted.

"At least Kamdor and I have never lost against just one Ranger." Miratrix replied smugly.

Benglo growled and fired at Miratrix, blasting her in the chest and sending her flying across the surface of the frozen-over snow. She finally crashed through and sunk into the powder. Mig laughed as he and Benglo walked over toward Miratrix. "Maybe she should've stayed at the bay and continued playing kissy-face with the Blue Ranger!" Mig stopped walking as the laughter fit overtook him.

Miratrix grimaced at his words, then grabbed a pair of wakizashi from their sheaths and suddenly leaped up. She threw one wakizashi into Mig's left shoulder, stunning him. She deflected several blasts from Benglo's gun back at him with the remaining blade, sending him dropping to the snow. As she continued her flight towards Mig, she sheathed her blade and reached out for the one in Mig's shoulder. Once she grabbed its handle, she pressed her heel against the green oval armor plate on his chest and kicked back with all her might, exerting heavy pressure as she pulled the blade out. She landed softly on her feet while Mig's armor spit sparks from the puncture wound and pressure damage until he collapsed.

"I hope this has taught you to pay attention," Miratrix replied, spinning her wakizashi and sheathing it. "and to not make stupid comments." She popped her knuckles and walked off to find Kamdor.

Back at the Hartford Mansion…

"So…Mack is actually a Jewel of the Corona Aurora that took on a human form? Well, don't I feel stupid for not realizing it!" Sentinel Knight said to Tyzonn after the brief explanation in the living room. "I definitely wish to help you out if I can, to make up for my previous absence."

Tyzonn mustered up a reassuring nod as Ronny wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close.

Rose sighed deeply from the couch, where she laid face-down, silently sobbing. Will paced in front of the windows, deep in thought as he looked outside. Dax groaned a bit as he adjusted the slightly melted icepack on his forehead.

The Sentinel Knight sighed and sat down on the floor with Tyzonn and Ronny as the room's negative vibe began to get to him.

The mood only seemed to drop deeper into negativity as Hartford walked in quietly. All eyes followed him as if they were trying to burn him alive, and he felt it. He sighed and turned a chair around to face the group, then sat down. The group followed suit silently, an unspoken wall of apathy dividing the two groups. The Sentinel Knight seemed confused, but stayed in anticipation that it would be explained.

"You gonna talk now?" Ronny spat out in a quiet tone.

"It's been hard…to find the words…at this moment…but I will." He quickly turned to look at Dax. "But first, what happened to you?"

"Miratrix still loves me…but love fricken hurts." He grumbled. Rose let out a stifled laugh, breaking her sorrow-filled exterior for a moment.

"I see." Hartford nodded. "Well…where do I start?"

"At the very beginning." Ronny replied.

Hartford sighed deeply and looked down at the floor to avoid their glares. "Well…about two years ago, I was on an archeological dig in the great city of Heliopolis. I had read that someone had been buried there with something related to the Corona Aurora in the chamber with them. I searched high and low for anything that looked like a Jewel, or maybe a clue leading me to the Corona Aurora, but I found nothing amongst the room itself and all of the things lining them.

"I never liked the idea of cracking open any sarcophagus, but I felt then that I should have; like something was in there, something that wanted me to find it. So, against my better judgment, I opened it up to find something I definitely wasn't prepared to see."

"Was it a mummy?" Dax asked, sounding more intrigued than in pain.

"On the contrary; I was expecting a mummy, but what I found didn't even appear to be dead, besides the lack of heartbeat and breathing. The body hadn't suffered from decay or insect feeding, and instead of the traditional wrappings, it was dressed in a plain outfit that people on long desert trek would wear. What was even stranger was that it was warm to the touch and lacking rigor mortis, even though the sarcophagus itself hadn't been opened in over 2,300 years.

"Needless to say, I was awestruck by what I had found: as a firm believer in the tale of Alexander the Great having used the Garnet Sun to prolong his life, I felt that this was the linchpin that held it all together…I just had to bring the body back here to study it on my own, without my associates poking and prying to see what I was doing. I wrapped the body up in a large canvas and set it up in my lab."

"So you dug Mack out of his resting place." Rose said after she finished blowing her nose.

"What was up with the note, then?" Will asked. "It sounded like you were certain you knew you had found the Garnet Sun."

"To be honest, I wrote the note mostly because I wanted to ward off anyone snooping around so that I could try again later. I was determined to find it regardless. I knew that it was there, I just didn't realize my good fortune until later."

"Well, it was a nice bluff. You fooled Kamdor pretty good with it."

"Thank you. Now, where was I?"

"Mack just arrived." Rose commented.

"Right. The first thing I was curious about was who this was, so I ran a hair sample past a friend of mine, and I was shocked to find that the body I found not only had no match, but it wasn't even human.

"The hair had a crystalline structure, similar to that of a gem or precious stone. When he had told me this, I was in awe. I began studying everything about the properties of the body itself, and I found that the entire body was composed similarly to the hair I had used in the sample."

"That's when you found out that it was the Garnet Sun." Rose replied.

"Not only that, but that a piece was missing from its core. It was indeed broken, as accounts had noted. The Sun has nine prongs sticking out on it, like a compass, and the northeast prong was missing, and evidence of breakage left. I made a note to return to Heliopolis when I could, but fate kept me from thinking about it again until yesterday…"

"What happened?" Dax asked.

"Well, it was the day I found out about the broken prong. I had spent the entire day in the lab, and around lunchtime…"

_Hartford stood in front of his screen, studying the two scans on it intently. "Over the last two hours…has it…sealed itself up on its own?" He muttered. "And these structures…look almost identical to a spinal cord, a pair of lungs, a liver, a stomach, esophagus, intestines…" He began jotting things down on a notepad in his hands. "A fully functioning nervous system…the beginnings of a circulatory system…it's really built to mimic life…" A sudden shuffling movement drew his attention, and he looked back._

_His eyes opened widely in shock as he saw the body on the table sitting itself up. The young man's green eyes widened when he noticed that Hartford was staring at him._

"_You're…you're…alive!" Hartford exclaimed, startling the young man. The young man looked at him as if he were confused. Hartford looked up the stairs and shouted. "SPENCER!" The shout seemed to rile the boy like a mouse hearing a lion roar. _

_The young man sprung off the table and ran down the alternate hallway, which led to a chamber of service elevators. Hartford followed him into the room and watched as the confused young man banged on the elevator door as he went up to the main floor. Hartford quickly tried to figure out where he'd end up._

_Hartford ran into Spencer on his way up the flight of stairs, nearly toppling the butler. "Sir, what is the commotion about?"_

"_Upstairs! Upstairs! Where does that leftmost elevator go to?"_

"_The kitchen, sir…" Spencer replied as he tried to catch up. _

_The duo ran into the kitchen to find the young man admiring a butcher knife he had found in the knife block. Hartford poked his head in and the young man panicked, hawking the sharp blade in Hartford's direction. Hartford pulled back, the blade sinking into the door only centimeters away from his ear. "Damn good aim." Hartford muttered._

_The young man drew another knife, this time a chef's knife, backing towards the wall slowly._

"_Sir, let me go in." Spencer said, trying to make his way inside._

"_No, I got it, Spencer." Hartford said, holding him back. Spencer looked in and saw the terrified young man. _

"…_Oh…is that-"_

"_Yes, yes it is." Hartford replied._

"_Let me try negotiating with him, sir. I'm sure I can get him to at least drop the knife."_

"_Spencer…I don't even think he understands what we're saying."_

"_When I was a lad, my unit had picked up a couple of shaken survivors of a particularly nasty storm from Blankenberge that had washed them into our territory, and nobody on crew spoke Belgian. If I can get through that for a couple of hours, I can certainly handle this."_

"_Fine…" Hartford held up his hands and left._

_Spencer calmly wandered in as Hartford watched from the other side of the doorway. The young man's eyes followed Spencer intently as he wandered in and opened up the fridge, taking out some deli meats and a pitcher of lemonade. The young man stuck the chef's knife in his belt loop and walked over to the fridge, trying to operate it as Spencer did. After opening the door, he seemed to be in awe of it for a few moments before closing it and turning around to watch Spencer again._

_Spencer poured a glass of lemonade, then began making a ham and cheese sandwich on rye bread. The young man stood to his side, watching him. Spencer calmly looked at him inquisitively, which made him jump slightly._

"_Oh, hello. Do you want something?" The young man obviously had no clue what he was saying, so he took interest in the lemonade. He bent down to stare into the glass, trying to figure out what it was. Spencer noticed and smiled. "Do you want that?" He asked drawing the young man's attention. _

_Spencer held the glass up to him. "Here. Take it." The young man stared at the glass, then at Spencer. "Take it. Go ahead." He gestured the glass towards the young man, trying to show that he was offering it to him. The young man cautiously grabbed the glass from Spencer's hand and began further inspecting the lemonade. He gave it a quick smell check, then took a sip._

_His face contorted for a second and he flinched, but after he swallowed, he stared at the rest of the drink in an interested manner. "Acerba…sed dulca…" He smiled and continued drinking it down._

_Spencer finished making the sandwich and sat it in front of the young man, who had sat down on the stool in front of him. "Enjoy." Spencer said with a smile. The young man smiled back and took a bite of the sandwich. _

"_May I please have my knife back?" Spencer asked, pointing to the knife tucked in the young man's belt. He gave a look to Spencer, not understanding what he was saying. He then realized that Spencer was pointing at the knife and pointed to it as well and gave a questioning look. "Yes, that is my knife. Mine." Spencer patted his chest. "Mine." _

_The young man seemed to understand the visual cues, as he gave a nod and pulled the knife from his belt, handing it back to him. "Thank you." Spencer replied, sliding the knife back into the block. The young man smiled and continued nibbling on the sandwich._

_Spencer walked out of the kitchen and patted Hartford's shoulder. "Give him a few minutes. He seems to enjoy the lemonade." He said as he watched the young man pour himself another glass of the frosty and bitterly sweet drink._

"_Well, I was going to offer him a glass of water to calm down before he tried putting the cleaver into my forehead…"_

"_If you used the sink, he might've taken you for a sorcerer. I'm sure he understands the concept of an icebox much better."_

"_Yeah…yeah! Sure…"_

"I'm sorry, I went off on a tangent with that. But…that's essentially how it happened." Hartford confessed, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I was quite entertained with your vivid memory. I confess that I had forgotten a bit of that." Spencer replied from the doorway, drawing the group's attention.

"Well, I doubt I could've forgotten any of it." Hartford replied. "Now, where do I go from here?"

Back on the ice floe…

Kamdor used his Jewel Detecting skill as he wandered further along. "Where is Flurious hiding the Jewel…? The sun and the ice seem to be pushing the signature all over the place…" He looked down and saw something unusual; a few drops of red coloring the ice. He bent down and studied the drops. "This isn't blood…" He looked along the ground, noting similar drops. "Our sensors are but sharks…but I am a wolf." He grinned to himself as he began trekking slowly after the drops.

Inside the Observatory…

"I'm growing impatient, Norg. Is he awake?" Flurious bellowed as he walked in. Norg was carefully looking over Mack's arm.

"He is still asleep…but he is bleeding!" Norg held up the arm, displaying a thin trickle of what looked like an almost metallic blood.

Flurious seized the arm from Norg's grasp. "What's this…? A Jewel…bleeding?"

The frigid touch caused Mack to stir and quickly wake. His eyes shot directly to Flurious's hand, then up his arm to the rest of him. Mack screamed and pulled his arm from Flurious's grasp.

"Well, it's about time you woke up! I thought you were dead!" Flurious exclaimed.

"Who are you?" Mack asked in a terrified tone, slowly backing across the ground.

"He doesn't know who I am?" Flurious asked Norg.

"I guess not…"

Flurious smiled, trying to not show his intent. "I see…" Flurious walked towards the cowering Mack. "I see you're awake…welcome to the land of the living."

Mack could see his deception a mile away, but played along. "Thank you. Could you please…remind me of who you are?"

"My name is Flurious. You would have surely drowned had it not been for me and my dear friend Norg."

"I'm your dear friend?" Norg asked. Flurious flashed him a look which obviously meant 'shut it', then looked back at Mack.

"I see. I owe you a debt of gratitude, I suppose." Mack took the hand offered by Flurious to help him to his feet, and it was then he noticed what Norg had before. "…Oh. That's not good…"

"Yes, what is the matter? You healed from your near-drowning, but that hasn't healed?"

"It's like…breaking a bone, rather than splitting or removing flesh. I heal in an absurd way." Mack replied. "It's not a major problem, but a minor inconvenience at this time. It's a mineral-rich fluid, so you could use it to brighten up this room a bit with some plants." He smiled.

"I don't do plants." Flurious snipped, silencing the young man and making him drop his cheery demeanor.

"…Good thing. They might never bloom in here."

"Now that you're awake, perhaps you'd like to come into my throne room to discuss a few things?"

"And I will finish making my herring soup!" Norg cheerily exclaimed.

"Good thing! A warm bowl of soup sounds alluring, as does discourse. Lead the way, Sir Flurious."

"Did you hear that? 'Sir Flurious'! A long water nap really cleared your head, didn't it?" Flurious laughed.

Back at the Mansion…

"…So when…how…did Mack learn English if all he knew was Latin?" Rose asked. "I mean, he couldn't just translate stuff over the Internet and learned that way."

"Well, he learned it almost instantaneously a few days after he…'woke up', so to speak. After I had gotten him down off the roof-"

"After he had almost kicked you off of it…" Spencer added.

"Wait, what was he doing on the roof?" Will asked.

"He chased him up there with his wild temper." Spencer replied.

"Well, I wouldn't have been so angry if he hadn't set my couch on fire!" Hartford tried defending himself.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a sec, back up. Mack lit the couch on fire?" Will asked.

"You gotta tell us this one." Ronny chimed.

Hartford sighed deeply. "Alright. Well, this all started when my brand new laptop arrived, fresh from the factory, just a few days after Mack arrived. I had planned for it to arrive on the same day I was to come home, but the situation with Mack shaved a few weeks off my stay. I was in the living room, checking out all the features…"

_The young man sat staring at the sunray peeking through the blinds, poking at the couch beneath it. He softly cupped his hand around the round disc of light and appeared to focus mildly from Hartford's perspective. A few moments passed by before smoke began to rise. Hartford leaped from his chair, startling the young man._

"_What are you doing?" He shouted, causing the young man to let go of the couch; however, instead of him letting go without a problem, the top layer of fabric, now looking very much like melted mozzarella, clung to his hand. Hartford's eyes widened in horror. "What did you do to my couch?" He bellowed as the young man began trying to peel the couch's top layer off his palm._

_Spencer walked in to see what was going on, his entrance going seemingly unnoticed during Hartford's tirade._

"_Didn't anyone teach you to not set things on fire? First you set my invoice for the ATV on fire, then you nearly burned one of the trees in the front yard ablaze, and now you've melted part of my couch, and I can't fix that!" The young man seemed only concerned with the couch material on his hand. _

_Spencer shook his head and sighed. "Sir, may I speak with you privately?" He said, setting his hand on Hartford's shoulder._

"_What? What am I doing wrong?" Hartford angrily snipped as they walked through the doorway and out into the hall._

"_You know that he has no grasp of the language, so the only thing that yelling will do for you is raise your blood pressure."_

"_What, you don't think he understands emotions? A dog doesn't understand English either, but they know when they've done something wrong!"_

"…_Are you suggesting that he is a pet, sir?"_

"_No, but…" Hartford sighed deeply to calm himself, then continued. "This's proving to be much too difficult for me."_

"_Raising a child is quite the arduous task, sir, and you've only been doing this a few days."_

"_I know…it's just…everything he touches combusts, he wanders around like he's lost, and he's up at all hours of the night in my lab! It's too much! I highly doubt any child is this hard to manage!"_

"_You must keep in mind that he is not your run-of-the-mill young adult, sir. He is a powerful artifact wrapped in a human-like shell who processes all his thoughts in a dead language and has lied dormant for over two centuries and every little thing he does wrong sets you off." Hartford tried to retort, but fell silent as the words floated away. Spencer continued in a calmer tone. "I doubt anything he does comes from intentional maliciousness any more than it comes from curiosity, and if he was being malicious, it's only your fault for scaring him into it."_

"_Fine, if you think you know what to do, then tell me." _

"_Let him outside, sir."_

"…_That's it?"_

"_He's the Garnet Sun, is he not? The artifact that drew energy from the sun, as you said many times before? The young man who touches things that're sitting underneath sunlight and ignites them? I think part of your problem is lack of attention to detail. Now, I will not speak another word of this, for I have laundry to do, and all of your old clothes from storage smell like mold. The boy needs his own wardrobe."_

"_Wait. What if he wanders off the premises? How am I going to find him?"_

"_I would be more than happy to accompany him on any and all ventures outside the compound in my free time."_

_Hartford sighed deeply and clamped the bridge of his nose while thinking intensely. "…I'll think about it tomorrow. I have to get some work done."_

"_As you wish, sir. Now, pardon me, as his hand-me-downs need sterilizing." Hartford turned around and sighed as Spencer walked off, and as soon as he walked back into the room, his eyes widened._

_The young man had a hold of his laptop, and smoke was rising up from the keyboards as his hard drive made sickly clicking and whirring noises. The back end suddenly erupted in sparks, startling the young man and causing him to tip the chair he was sitting in over, and he landed on his back and tumbled backwards._

_Hartford watched in horror as his brand new laptop started to catch fire; as the fire began burning through the keys, his rage boiled over._

_He picked the young man up as he tried getting up and slammed him into the wall about twenty feet away; if the short-circuiting computer hadn't already scared him, the look of utter horror on his face clearly indicated how intense Hartford had become._

"_Keep you goddamn hands off of things! Do you hear me?" He bellowed. The young man flinched and pulled away under his grip, and Hartford gained a slight moment of clarity. The moment was abruptly ended as the young man's face contorted into one that mimicked Hartford's glare only a fraction of a second before he shoved Hartford away with all his might, sending him flying into the table the now smoldering laptop sat upon._

_A look of confusion crossed the young man's face as Hartford slowly recovered, and suddenly, the boy bolted for the front door. "Hey!" Hartford shouted as he rushed to get on his feet. Spencer walked in and helped Hartford to his feet._

"_Spencer, go get him!"_

"_And frighten him off completely? Give the boy a break…"_

"And here I thought my family was dysfunctional." Dax muttered. "At least my sister's never set anything of mine on fire…"

"Like I said, going from nothing to having to manage Mack was quite the challenge, and I definitely wasn't ready for it." Hartford commented.

"Um, what does that have to do with him learning English?" Rose asked.

"Well, you wanted to know why he was on the roof, and that's why." Hartford replied.

"I walked out to find him a few minutes later, and found him curled up on the roof, looking very unsettled. He stayed up there for hours, until Master Hartford went up and apologized to him." Spencer added.

"He nearly killed me on the way up."

"Sir, you scared him witless. I don't doubt the possibility of him thinking you were coming to do the same to him."

"So, how did he learn English?" Rose pried again.

"What's your obsession, Rose?" Ronny asked.

"Well, going from Latin to English is quite the leap, don't you think?" Rose asked.

"Well, I finally fished him off the roof once I had calmed my temper."

"And after you realized that he recognized the name 'Corona Aurora', if I remember correctly."

Hartford gave Spencer a look as he continued. "Well, I wanted to start fresh with him after I had gathered my wits, so I tried and gave him a little time, and then I attempted to get to know him a little better."

"Using the Corona Aurora as a starter topic." Spencer smiled, letting Hartford know his persistent jabs were in jest.

"Well, anyways, I wanted to see if I could evoke some responses from him without him burning this place down…"

"_Where is the Corona Aurora?" The young man stared at the crude drawing of the Corona Aurora that Hartford held in his hand; a picture of it lacking the five Jewels that once sat atop it. _

_The young man's eyes lit up at the sight, but it was short-lived. His smile quickly dissipated, his face swiftly forming into a look of depression as he ran his fingers over the empty sockets in the crown. "Nos…nos spargimus lateque…" He crossed his arms on the table and pouted. " Ego id odio."_

_Hartford and Spencer stared at the pouting young man in confusion. He looked up at them as he noticed their stares, and he knew they had no clue what he was saying. An old game he had played once came to mind, along with a plan._

_The young man looked up and waved his hands in front of himself, snapping Hartford and Spencer to attention. He then began gesturing towards Hartford with his hands pulling back towards himself several times in succession._

"_What's he doing?" Hartford asked, leaning towards Spencer._

"_I believe he's trying to play Charades, sir." He replied._

"_Oh? Well, it's about time. We might get somewhere now." Hartford commented before trying to understand what he was trying to say._

_The young man held his hands up next to his shoulders, palms pointing outwards, then began bending his fingers. Hartford blinked, then looked at his hands. "My hands?" He held them up similarly to the way the young man was._

_The young smiled and nodded, then began his next gesture. He held his arms at his side, his palms facing the ceiling, then began using them to gesture towards himself, as if trying to either fan himself or draw something closer. Hartford just stared at the young man, trying to figure out what he was doing._

"_Perhaps…he's gesturing for you to give him your hands?" Spencer commented._

"_Well, that makes no sense. What would he want them for? I need them!"_

"_Well, give it a go, sir. If you're wrong, you can just try again."_

"_Right."_

_Hartford held his hands out for the young man with a mildly skeptical look on his face, and the young man smiled. He wrapped his hands around Hartford's, then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and focused. A sharp pain shot through Hartford's hands and up his spine, causing his face to twist a bit in pain. A pulling sensation unconsciously made him stumble forwards into the table, but after a few brief moments, the young man let go, leaving Hartford to grab his throbbing temples._

_The young man sighed deeply and sat down, looking very focused on his own thoughts. Hartford walked around wincing for a minute as Spencer went to get him some aspirin. A few minutes later, Hartford took the pills while sitting in his computer desk chair, when noise rose up from the couch where the young man sat._

"_The…Corona Aurora…where it sleeps…where…" His speech sounded stumbled, as if it were slowly processing._

_Hartford stared in awe, then began scooting across the floor slowly in the chair. "Are you…"_

_The young man looked up at Hartford, stopping him mid-sentence. "The Corona Aurora…is a divine container of the…universe's energy. There was a…guardian who was…selected by the gods…to watch us for…eternity…to prevent us from falling into…impure hands."_

"_Us? What do you mean, 'us'?" Hartford asked._

"_Us five are beacons…the crown our center…our channeler. It was by fate that two…quarrelling siblings, brothers…they tried to claim us and we punished them and cast them far away. Our guardian, fearing that we were…no longer safe…cast us and our base…through the stars to this small satellite of this yellow sun. Over time, the soil split, and our…separation…became moreso." He sighed deeply. "I have yet to see the Corona since this…incident…nor have I seen my kin…" He curled up on the couch and pouted. "I wonder if any other humans are like you…trying to find us all." His sentences were becoming less stumbled as he rambled on._

"_The story you just told is a myth that is connected to the fabled Corona Aurora…as hard as it was to follow you. Are you saying that…you're a Jewel of the Corona?"_

"_I used to be, in my former assigned self, the center Jewel, the one standing above the rest. Now…now I am the Garnet Sun, hiding my true self under an even falser self that you see." The young man smiled._

"_This is…this is madness." Hartford looked around for Spencer. "Spencer! How old were those aspirin? Were those even aspirin?" The young man laughed at him, drawing his attention. "First you're babbling in Latin and trying to kill me and burn down my house, now you're rambling in English about the Corona Aurora and you tell me you're the central Jewel of the Corona."_

"_You are so stupid." The young man smiled, suppressing a laugh._

"_You're not very funny. And you're rude."_

"_Screaming at me for accidents isn't rude?"_

"_Sir, what're you screaming about?" Spencer asked as he walked in._

"_He is just being stupid." Spencer's eyes widened in shock._

"_Well, pretty sure I understand what he wanted my hands for…" Hartford commented, cracking a smile._

"That's amazing that he picked it up so fast!" Rose said in awe.

"So I suppose my speech was just a reminder to you about what had happened." Sentinel Knight commented.

"So you knew that eventually we'd be looking for Mack." Ronny said coldly. Tyzonn looked at her, not expecting her to ask such a question.

"I didn't think that I'd be seeking the Corona and the Jewels around under pressure like this, not until Moltor and Flurious arrived. Nobody could have forseen that. I thought I could go at my own pace." Hartford sighed. "I wasn't expecting to have to lead a group of people around the world to protect these Jewels!"

"You weren't expecting this to happen? Even with the legend?" Rose asked.

"I didn't think getting the Corona would cause Moltor and Flurious to be freed from their prisons."

Will looked up. "Something isn't matching up."

"What do you mean?" Hartford asked.

"I have this…suspicion…that perhaps Mack didn't even know about this when we talked to him yesterday. I mean, his body language, his tone of voice…he really had no clue about what we were talking about. If he knew that we'd eventually land on the clues leading to him, he would've looked or sounded nervous that we were finding out." Will replied, crossing his arms.

"What're you saying?" Hartford replied, giving a strange look that he hadn't given before.

Will smiled. "That's the kind of look I mean."

Hartford looked over to Spencer, who walked out.

Dax looked up, setting the ice pack down. "Oh man. This kind of stuff always pops up in every drama movie; where the hero finds out some insane plot twist about his boss that just blows everyone's minds." He looked around, finding that everyone was glaring at him. "…What? I'm just saying!"

Meanwhile…

Mack curled up in the comforter Norg wrapped him up in and began sipping the herring soup Norg had spooned out for him as Flurious began to talk.

"Are you comfortable, oh great Garnet Sun?"

"This is very good cuisine. Your…talking…polar bear…beast…servant…is a very good cook." Mack replied with a smile and a nod. "And this blanket is very warm…although it feels quite soggy. I must be melting the ice below me."

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

"Would you like some more herring soup, Red Ranger?" Norg asked. Mack looked at him in confusion, while Flurious looked mortified.

"Out, out, before I turn you into a throw rug!" Flurious shouted. Norg scurried out of the room, leaving Mack to look at him.

"Do you always treat your servant this way?" Mack asked.

"He is quite mindless. Forgive him."

"That doesn't answer my question." Mack replied in a calm tone.

"Ugh…well…if I don't keep him in line, he ends up in my enemy's hands telling them all sorts of secrets and hints about what I'm doing, and he just blurts things out."

"I understand." Mack nodded. "Perhaps, due to your reaction, 'Red Ranger' means something?"

"He's just confused." Flurious replied nervously.

"Well, what does it refer to? A lot of people have used that today in my presence."

Flurious sat back. "Well, it's a term many people use for whom we thought you were, but we realize that you are the almighty Garnet Sun."

"Flattery gets people nowhere." Mack replied bluntly.

"Oh, I'm not trying to flatter you. I'm trying to address you appropriately."

"…I understand."

"Now, the Red Ranger, if you must know, is a member of the Power Rangers, the group of humans who were chasing you about."

"You've been following me somehow?"

"I use orbiting satellites to transmit visuals in a screen. I've been a little concerned about your location, moreso than everyone else."

"I understand."

"And the Power Rangers are out to steal away the Corona Aurora and the Jewels to use them to take over the world."

"I understand. Isn't that everyone's desire, though? Even yours?" Flurious was taken aback by Mack's accusation.

"I wish to preserve the Jewels."

"…I understand."

"Good. I'm glad we're on the same page, then. You're free to stay here; in fact, consider the Observatory as a bedroom of sorts."

"…My own chambers?"

"Of course! You're a very important guest."

"…I understand." Mack didn't believe a word of it. He couldn't bring himself to fall for the same trick twice. "So I am this…Red Ranger?"

"If you still were, you'd be trying to beat me to a pulp. They're very aggressive like that." Flurious laughed. "They've destroyed a great deal of my Chillers in their efforts to thwart my goal."

"I understand."

"Your vocabulary seems limited."

"I forgot your language for a while…I'm slowly recovering. I forgot a great deal of things, unfortunately. Or perhaps, it was fortunate."

"What have you forgotten, exactly?"

"Well, besides losing the English I had learned, I've lost memory of an extended period of time…perhaps you could help me to figure out how long it has been by telling me the date?"

"It's September 10th."

"Of what year?"

"2007."

"So…roughly more than a year and a half's time." Mack replied. "I suppose it was for the best."

"Why do you say that? Aren't memories precious things to people?"

"Memories of lies are far from precious."

"Lies, you say?" Flurious sat back in his chair, feeling incredibly lucky. "What do you mean by that? Who lied to you?"

"Andrew Hartford. I don't expect you to know the name."

"Hartford? Why, he's the leader of the Power Rangers!"

"That explains why they were in his house…" Mack sighed, then began finishing off his soup.

"I suppose it goes without saying that they are pursuing you the most."

"They are trying very hard to 'bring me home', that is certain."

"Andrew Hartford must be livid that you've evaded his iron clutches."

Mack grinned at Flurious's comment, laughing for a moment as he continued dining. He sipped down the broth and set the bowl down as he finished it off. "I have a question for you now, and I'd like for you to be totally honest."

"What is it?"

"I am…fascinated with the concept of desires. Myself…I cannot have such a thing, and the concept of others having this concept…it interests me greatly." He stood up and brushed himself off. "I am wondering…what is your greatest desire…well, besides obtaining all the Jewels and the Corona?" He crossed his arms.

"Why can't you have any desires?"

"Well…desires are…they are things that people wish for that can be fulfilled. I have no use for making wishes I myself can't fulfill."

"So you're saying you would fulfill my desire?" Flurious raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that is my job. I am a djinn of sorts, I suppose you can say."

"Well, what would be your desire, if you had one?" Flurious decided to sound sympathetic and sensitive to win Mack over.

Mack thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose if there is one thing I desire the most…if I could have anything, good or bad….would be to punish Andrew Hartford for his actions against me. It's a horrible wish, I admit, but I have known too many humans like him, and I am tired of them all. If I had to get rid of them one by one, starting with him, that would fulfill my desire." Mack sighed as he looked down. "Perhaps then my previous master's wish would be complete and I could finally find peace."

"I see." Flurious grinned. "I too have a desire to get rid of Andrew Hartford."

Mack looked up. "You do?" He sounded quite surprised, almost as if he had been hoping for it.

"Yes, I do. You see, of the four Jewels known to myself and the others, Hartford has obtained two of them. I can only wonder what he's done with those Jewels already. Probably used them to make himself richer and more powerful already."

Mack snickered mentally at the notion, but quickly got to the point. "Where is the third?"

"Kamdor and Miratrix have it."

"So all you have is me. You're a horrible Jewel Hunter."

"I may not be lucky, but I am persistent."

"Well, it looks as if your persistence has paid off."

"Indeed it has." Flurious grinned, then began stroking his chin. After a moment, he spoke again "I have a bargain for you."

"What kind of bargain?"

"I assist you in fulfilling your desire, and you give your allegiance to me. I will provide protection for you, as well as do everything in my power to assist you in your desire fulfillment. I'll even help you kill Hartford if you bring him back here."

"You will?"

"Of course!"

Mack grinned. "I suppose that you want something out of this besides my allegiance. Nobody is this benevolent without a form of tribute."

"Oh, you needn't get me anything."

"Except the other Jewels."

"If you think they'd be best protected here, rather than in the hands of the Power Rangers…"

"I understand." Mack smiled. "Just how do you plan to-"

An alarm went off, and Flurious summoned an ice screen. Mack stared at it in wonder. "Ah…that filthy blue loser thinks he's going to just sneak up and spirit you away…" He closed the camera view and zoomed to the radar.

He was shocked to see what he did. Numerous small Jewel readings lined the floe's back entrance near the observatory, and the blip representing Kamdor seemed to be following them. "What is this…" The Jewel readings all seemed to be following a path that led directly to Mack, everywhere he had gone, even as far as the throne room. He looked at Mack and watched a drop of red crystalline fluid roll down his finger and drop to the ground, hardening on impact.

"I might have an idea to help, but give me a moment." Flurious stood up. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORG!"

Norg scampered in. "Yes, Flurious sir?"

"Round up as many Chillers as you can and set them up near the path between the back entrance and the Observatory. We have an unwanted visitor."

"Yes sir!" Norg saluted and scrambled into the room behind Flurious's throne.

"Now, your idea?" Mack asked.

"It will take quite a bit on your part, but I can assure you that it's less painful than anything you and I shall do to Hartford once you return with him."

"I…understand…" Mack became very wary.

"I'm going to need you to come closer."

"For what?"

"Just come here."

"You're not left-handed are you?" Flurious seized Mack's left arm and pulled a thin icicle out of his throne. In one quick swing, he dug a long horizontal arc a couple inches above his left wrist, cutting into the wound that was already dripping crystalline blood everywhere. Mack screamed in pain. "Oh now that didn't hurt that much!"

Outside, Kamdor continued following the trail until he arrived to a dividing area between the observatory and the back entrance. He stopped suddenly and scouted around.

"Hm…it's too quiet. Flurious isn't one to leave himself unguarded…" He spotted several sets of footprints leading around the field that were poorly disguised. He grinned and focused his energy on an old jutsu he hadn't needed in a while. After a few moments of intense focusing, he pushed the aura he had gathered forwards. The aura formed itself into a blackish clone of Kamdor, which triggered the Chiller's ambush.

"I knew it." Kamdor grinned. He drew his swords and started on his own ambush upon the unsuspecting Chillers, hacking away at them while the Chillers had no idea which Kamdor to attack.

It took him only a minute to hack through them all as they surged out, and he quickly dispelled his shadow clone. "Now…which route do I take from here…?"

Back at the Hartford Mansion…

"That didn't seem obvious to me, Will, but now that you mention it…he did seem completely oblivious to what was going on. I mean, none of us knew the reasons behind everything, nor do I think Mack knew, but I think if he knew he was on the list, he would've acted a little differently." Rose commented.

"Something seems very…fish-like." Tyzonn added.

"Fishy." Ronny corrected.

"Are you sure?" Ronny nodded in the positive. "…Huh. That sounds odder than what I said."

Spencer walked in with a glass of lemonade and handed it to Hartford, who quickly grabbed the glass.

"Sir, perhaps you should answer their concerns." Spencer replied. Hartford gave him a look, and Spencer replied back with one of his own as he walked over to the couch and sat down.

Hartford took a sobering breath before taking another swig of the lemonade. "I suppose it was…about six or seven months after Mack had arrived here. I had decided to try to get 'adjusted' to taking care of him in a fatherly manner instead of just rushing out to find the Corona, but I just…knew that there was something...holding him back. He never seemed happy, no matter how hard I tried to cheer him up, or tried figuring out just what was wrong. Both Spencer and I drew blanks on what was troubling him, and what we could do the shake him out of it…"

_The young man walked through the hallways in his normal pensive stride, when his attention was called by an unusual tone of voice pouring out from the living room's air vent._

_He crouched down and placed his head close to the vent to listen in._

"_Spencer…this bothers me a lot. It bothers me that he's upset about something."_

"_Sir, if I may be blunt for a moment?"_

"_By all means."_

"_Your suggestion for this solution is insane and, quite frankly, quite sordid."_

"_Sordid? Hardly. I feel like this's the best course of action."_

"_Toying with his memories is a good course of action, sir?"_

"_I feel like he's having a very hard time adjusting here, and it pains me to see him so miserable."_

"_Many people have difficulties in adjusting to completely new surroundings, but his case is quite extreme. This whole world has changed since he was up and about exploring it; and not only has the technology advanced greatly since then, but this part of the world is foreign to him as well. I'm quite certain that Egypt doesn't have so many blooming flowers or trees."_

"_No, no, Spencer. I mean, I feel like he's…depressed. Depressed about losing all of his loved ones. I don't think either of us will be able to fill in those voids."_

"_So you think filling in those potholes with blacktop will solve the problem?"_

"_I think it would allow him to be able to adjust without guilt."_

"…_I see, sir." Spencer's normally poignant tone turned sour around his reply. "Have you even asked him about this…proposed mindwipe?"_

"_Not directly. I've just sat and listened to him go on and on about Lady Berenice, and Alexander, and his horse Bellona, and the friends he made, and he always seems to go from sounding cheerful to being utterly depressed about not having them anymore. I've never quite understood why that is, but it hurts to see him look so miserable."_

"_We all miss those have passed on, sir. It doesn't give anyone an excuse to erase those memories; they're things he cherishes, or else he would forget them without your help." Hartford looked down at the ground. "Now, I don't know what provoked you into this horridly perverted mindset, but I wish you would drop it."_

"_A few weeks ago…he asked me something I've never been asked before by anyone." Hartford's eyes widened as he sat down on a chair. "He asked me what my greatest desire was; and above all, I've always wanted to have a son of my own."_

"_Well, you've never told me that, sir. I could have called an adoption agency in your stead for a little boy."_

"_Spencer, I'm getting a little too old to be chasing around a little boy." Spencer gave him a dirty look. "That's not to say that you couldn't handle one while I was away, or that I couldn't handle one, but that's not the point."_

"_I'm not sure what this has to do with what you're proposing."_

"_Well, he wanted to fulfill this desire I've had personally, but I really feel this…distance…this wall…because of everything from before interfering, and he knows that there is a wall too."_

"_I heard this talk of emotional distance from him as well, but I do not think it is his fault."_

"_Are you saying it's my fault?" Hartford replied, sounding hurt._

_Spencer avoided answering. "I suppose that, regardless of my answer, I cannot persuade you from your endeavor, and I suppose the only answer I can give is but a question: do you intend to stick a myriad of false memories of you two being father and son together, or are you just going to leave him with no memories at all?"_

"_False memories, Spencer? Do you think I would do something so underhanded as that?" Spencer raised an eyebrow, and Hartford scoffed. "Relieving him of painful memories is something I consider a gift, but I would never manipulate him like that! I do care about his well-being, now that he is in my care, and I would never try to hurt him like that."_

"_I suppose that I can find a touch of comfort on that note…" Spencer sighed. "What do you plan on telling him?"_

"_I'll tell him he…he had an accident. He fell out of a tree in the front yard, and, and, the doctor said he would be lucky to be alive…I guess."_

_The young man scrunched his face up and made his way outside. Perhaps he could personally do the job himself._

Ronny stood up as soon as Hartford stopped talking, drawing the room's attention. A look of disgust dominated her features.

"How…how could you? He trusted you…and you…did that to him. You destroyed the very person he was so that you could live out your little fantasy…" Ronny tried to blink away her tears. "He's a human being, regardless of what anyone thinks, and you took away part of his life and you lied to him!"

"I didn't take away anything. I sealed off those memories in a deep part of his subconscious so that he wouldn't have to think about them and feel depressed any longer. Wouldn't you have done the same?"

"No. Because it's not right; losing people is a life experience. My best friend was…in a fatal car accident many years ago, and I cried many times over it…sometimes I still do, but I would never ask to forget anything about her, even pictures of the accident, or the phone call I got at two in the morning. I know if it were the other way around, she wouldn't have wanted that either." Ronny sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"I told you, I did it because I didn't want him to suffer."

"I don't care!" She shouted. "I…" She huffed heavily and walked out of the room.

"Hey, wait!" Tyzonn said, reaching out towards Ronny. She was unstoppable though, and he decided to get up and follow her out the door.

The Rangers and Sentinel Knight watched Ronny leave, and one by one followed her out silently. Spencer stood up and walked over to Hartford, who was hanging his head in shame. "I wish I could say something witty, as I always do when trying to cheer one up, but I suppose that this is a time to reflect. I shall…leave you be, sir." He smiled slightly, and walked out to follow the Rangers and Sentinel Knight.

Back in Flurious's lair…

Kamdor slowly slid into the back entrance of Flurious's lair, prepared for every trap imaginable. "I had a sad feeling that those Chillers were the only things waiting for me besides Flurious…what a shame." He muttered to himself.

He could hear muffled cries rising up from a room northeast of him, along with incoherent shouting that was obviously Flurious from the tone. "Those cries of pain…sounds like Flurious is doing my job for me." Kamdor grinned softly as he chuckled to himself at the mental image of Flurious hacking away at the Red Ranger with his icicle-ridden staff.

He slunk into the back of the throne room, but unfortunately for him, he clashed mildly with the icicles behind him. "Flurious!" Norg pointed at Kamdor, and it drew Flurious's attention.

"So, you finally made it in. Too bad; he's under my protection now."

"Protection?" Kamdor laughed. "He looks like he'd be in better care in my hands! Now, do I have to beat you senseless for him or will you just hand him over?"

"You'll have the Garnet Sun over my dead body!"

"I'll make it so!" Kamdor unsheathed his swords and charged.

Mack sat up against the wall, curled up in the fetal position as Norg tied a long white cloth around the icicle wound. "You'll be okay, Mr. Garnet Sun sir." Norg said, patting him on the head. He used the hanging end of the cloth to wipe up Mack's tears off his face. "You should not cry here; your tears will get all burny on your face and your nose will fill up with snot icicles and that will hurt, too."

"You're…a very good servant, Norg." Mack weakly smiled.

"I am his friend."

"…I understand."

Flurious grabbed his staff and blocked Kamdor's opening swing, pushing the ninja back. Kamdor reclaimed his balance and jump kicked the center of Flurious's staff, knocking Flurious on his rear. Flurious sent a blast of energy at Kamdor, narrowly missing his left shoulder as the ninja deftly sidestepped.

"You're as slow as frozen molasses!" Kamdor taunted.

"You're going to be a frozen ninja once I'm done with you!" He fired off another blast as he clamored to his feet, missing again.

"Stay down!" Kamdor charged up his force blast jutsu and fired, hitting Flurious so hard that sparks erupted from his body from the friction as he flew into the back wall. Flurious hit the floor and couldn't gather the energy to get back up.

"It's an insult to lower myself by fighting you." Kamdor mocked as he made his way towards Mack.

"Norg, please leave." Mack commanded softly.

Mack slowly got up as Norg scurried away. Mack stood in a defensive position.

Kamdor stopped. "Do you honestly want to fight?"

"I will not go with you. I am no one's prize."

"You can just come quietly with me, willingly, and I promise I won't hurt you more than you obviously already are." Kamdor replied, remarking the cloth.

"Do not come any closer, or I will make you regret it."

"You've been quite the amazing fighter thus far today, and I respect that. But I will be relieving Flurious of your company, whether you like it or not." Kamdor sheathed his swords and approached Mack. Mack hesitantly waiting until Kamdor grabbed his arm, then he made his move.

He twisted Kamdor's wrist and turned him around, pinning his arm against his back. Kamdor reached for Mack's head, and he grabbed and pinned the other arm to Kamdor's chest.

"Let…go!" Kamdor shouted.

"As you wish." Mack replied, spinning around once and releasing Kamdor, sending him violently spinning and tripping into the throne, slamming his head into the armrest and passing out.

Mack grinned and dusted himself off. "It was an insult to lower myself to fighting you." He commented.

"Well done!" Flurious commented as he finally got to his feet. "Now, our plan can commence…"

Back at the Hartford Mansion's command center…

Ronny tossed herself at the main computer and slid down to her rear, fighting tears. Tyzonn followed her in and found her on the floor, weeping. "Ronny…?" Tyzonn bent down next to her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried.

"I…hate him…" Ronny sobbed. "But…this is our job…"

"I will agree; what Mr. Hartford did to Mack was very much uncalled for, but there's nothing we can do now but find him and bring him back here, where he'll be safe."

"I don't wanna bring him back here…not with him…"

"...Oh." Tyzonn sighed and rubbed her back. "What would you do then? Where would you put him?"

"My mother's house? My cousin's house? He lives around here…I don't know…I just want him as far away from Hartford as I could get him…"

She sniffled and tried to calm down as Tyzonn pulled her close. "…That story you told was very…unlike you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that…it just…when Hartford asked me that question, it was the first one that popped into my head."

"It clearly still bothers you. I know that feeling…" Tyzonn replied. "Your friend…he must have meant a lot to you."

She sniffled and began slowly telling the rest of her story, as if needing to. "My best friend Rick got me into racing…he was gonna be the leader of my pit crew and everything…and just one night…some guy hit him head-on when he was driving back to his apartment…" She coughed. "I…I missed my first qualifying race, I was so crushed…and my second…and my third and fourth and fifth…then one day, I sat in my car, and I thought of him…I thought of him sitting next to me, egging me on…yelling at me because I wasn't out on the track…" She sighed. "If I hadn't thought about him…I would've never gone out there and won all those races…I might not be here. All because I held onto the most painful memory in my life." Ronny wiped her eyes on her sleeve, then lied her head on Tyzonn's shoulder. "What Hartford did…when he asked me if it was something I would do…I just snapped. I think Mack would've said the same exact thing if he was given the choice…but he can't now, can he?" She sniffled again, and Tyzonn sighed.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I wish that wasn't the case."

Dax walked in, having heard Ronny from upstairs. "Hey Ronny…you okay?" Ronny and Tyzonn looked at him in a mildly annoyed fashion. "…Sorry." He kneeled down next to Ronny. "You gonna be okay?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Man, Hartford looked really shocked that you said that. I mean, even though he was going on about how Spencer was telling him off, I think it really hit him hard that one of us stood up to him."

"Good. He deserved it." Ronny snipped.

"Don't worry. We'll find Mack soon. Everything will be fine. I mean, Mack had super bad luck, and he still lived to tell about it, right?" Ronny smiled lightly. "See? There's nothing to worry about."

"Mack…we'll find him alive and well, I know it." Tyzonn reassured.

Will and Rose wandered in, having heard the voices of their teammates.

"Man, you really stuck it to Hartford." Will said. "That was intense."

"We wouldn't have heard a word outta him if you hadn't egged him on, Will. You're the one who stuck it to him." Ronny said, giving him a little fist pound as he sat down next to her. Tyzonn sighed and pulled away from her, crossing his legs and sitting in front of her.

"I knew something was up with Mack." Rose said, sitting her hands on her hips. "I mean, something wasn't clicking, but it wasn't until Will said something about him acting odd to us talking about the Jewel did I realize what it was." Rose sat down next to Tyzonn. "But that had me thinking…do you think, maybe…maybe something happened that interfered with what Hartford did? Because I mean, he obviously has no clue who we are, or he wouldn't have run."

"He didn't understand a word we were saying, even, until I was with him on the semi." Ronny added.

"You're saying that his brain just blue screened or something?" Dax asked. "Oh man…I totally get this…this's like, a twisted version of _Madame Sin_…expect I don't think Hartford's using Mack to get Jewels…nor do I think Hartford's ever worn a dress…" Dax thought for a moment. "Oh god, I hope not." He shook his head, trying to get the image out of his head. "Maybe this's more like _Shizzandra_…oh man, that's even worse…"

"Dax, stop before you hurt yourself." Rose ordered.

"Thanks." Dax replied.

Sentinel Knight found the group downstairs. "Oh, this is where you all went." He commented. "Why are you all on the floor?"

"Come join us." Ronny offered, patting the floor.

"If you insist…" He replied, sitting down on the floor with them.

"Sentinel Knight, what do you think of all this?" Rose asked.

Sentinel Knight sat and thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons presented in a fair manner. "Hm…well, as a guardian of the Corona Aurora and its Jewels, I do worry about Mack's condition, and his disposition of servitude. I can only presume he gained this preconceived notion of him having to fulfill his keeper's greatest desire here on Earth…as much as Hartford's actions trouble me, Mack's actions worry me greater." Sentinel Knight set his hand against his chin.

"Perhaps Hartford's actions do not shock me as much as they should because I have seen and heard of many individuals like him; those who would do anything to get what they want, even manipulate the unwilling and defenseless to fit their needs. Perhaps it is overshadowed by Mack's questioning of desires. It still boggles me as to why he…why he asked such a question." Sentinel Knight looked down. "We never considered the Jewels or the Corona itself to be a 'wish granter' of sorts, although they do have that sort of power...I hope that we are the ones to find him first, as I do not wish to think about what anyone else will do with him in his condition."

"Don't worry, we'll find him. We won't give up." Ronny replied while sniffling.

"Once Mack is back here and everything calmed down, I'm sure he'll remember us." Tyzonn commented, bringing a smile to Ronny's face.

"Well, we can't be positive. If he completely forgot the English language and he started learning it after he arrived, I'd be a little worried about our chances of anything else." Rose replied. Ronny glared at her. "I'm sorry, but we can't be positive about anything until he's back here."

"Mack'll be fine!" Dax reassured, placing his hand on Ronny's shoulder.

Meanwhile, back at the ice floe…

Miratrix trudged through the snow tiredly, feeling the icicles forming under her nostrils. "Where…is Kamdor…?"

She looked out towards the front entrance and watched as a small army of still-fresh Chillers gathered into numerous rickety boats; she noticed that they all wore red scarves that seemed out of character for them. Another thing that seemed out of place was Mack, who was buried beneath their ranks.

"What's the Red Ranger doing…?" She asked herself as she watched them from behind a snow-covered boulder.

As they began casting off, she watched as they began sailing to the shore one by one, until there were none left on shore. "Something big's happening…Kamdor or no Kamdor, I have to keep my eye on him." Miratrix commented. "Besides, he's so biiiiig and strooooong, that he probably would just take this over. I'm going to capture and kill him myself." And with that, she ninja jumped back towards her water vessel on the other side of the ice floe.

_Writer's note: Yes, there was a bit of Latin used this chapter, so if you had no clue as to the meanings, I'll be happy to translate them for you:_

_Desinos!: Stop!_

_Emoves!: Go away/leave!_

_Te stulta est: You're foolish_

_Acerba sed dulce: Bitter but sweet_

_Nos spargimus lateque: We're spread far and wide_

_Ego id odio: I hate it_

_Um…yeah. Catch ya next week._


	7. Chapter Six: Solar Powered Automaton

Andrew Hartford stood in the front lawn of his mansion, watching as the sun slowly began to fall behind the treetops. A warm breeze passed by, ruffling the collar of his shirt slightly. He sighed as thoughts raged through his mind like a tempest, and after a few moments, he sat down cross-legged on the lawn near the hammock.

He sighed and watched the sun's light trickle through the leaves. He scratched at the persistent sting of a nervous itch on the back of his neck, and as he stopped, he heard the sound of shoes traversing the lawn towards him. He looked back to see Spencer standing over him.

"Enjoying the view, sir?" Spencer asked.

"I wish I could." Hartford replied, looking down. Spencer took a seat in the hammock as Hartford sighed deeply. "Am I a horrible person?"

"It depends on what you are asking me about." Hartford looked up at him with a pained look on his face. "I suppose that it is less that you are a horrible person, and more that you occasionally do things that have nothing to do with what you need to do."

"Do you think Mack will forgive me?"

"That is not my place to answer." Hartford looked down at the grass in front of him. "I know you wish that everything was as it was yesterday, but…I think it is better this way."

"…What?" Hartford sounded dumbstruck.

Spencer sighed. "He still had his habit of wandering around at night as I am preparing the next day's schedule, and every night I would find him in the kitchen window, or on the front lawn, sometimes the roof...always distraught."

"What was wrong? Was it that I wasn't home all of the time? That I didn't spend a lot of time with him when I was here?"

"He felt guilty, sir. Guilty that he could not remember a thing after his 'accident'. Guilty that he thought he was failing you as a son because he could hardly remember his name at first. Guilty that perhaps you did not spend a lot of time here because you could not cope with his unfortunate fate."

Hartford curled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, sitting his chin on top of his knees and sighing deeply. "I wish I knew how much he could remember. It's obvious that he doesn't remember…at least the last eight months. I guess I can hope that he's forgotten the last two years, but that would be too much to ask, wouldn't it?"

"It would indeed."

Hartford sighed. "Do you think the others…do you think this is the end of Operation Overdrive?"

"Oh heavens no! I do not think they would leave for any reason whatsoever. They're all very committed to this goal you have set for them. However, if you are asking if they will trust you to lead them…well that is a different question entirely."

"I suppose I deserve that."

"Now don't go feeling sorry for yourself, sir. It's very unbecoming."

"Do you forgive me, Spencer?"

Spencer sighed and thought for a moment. "I…understand why you did what you had done, and while I still stand by what I said, and I knew that this would happen, I did not expect this to happen as it has."

"That doesn't answer my question, Spencer." Hartford replied in a mildly annoyed tone.

"I sympathize with you, sir, for this turn of events. It is not my place to dole out forgiveness." Spencer slowly stood up. "Now if you will excuse me sir, there are things I am very far behind in doing, and I don't want to get off-schedule." He began walking back towards the mansion, leaving Hartford to his own melancholy once more.

Back on the ice floe…

Flurious watched as a fresh batch of Chillers dragged Kamdor's unconscious body out of the Throne Room. He then turned to Norg and grinned. "Go get the Chillers together in the Robot Bay and get them ready for a massive overhaul…" He held up a thick red crystalline dagger, which looked frozen to a more solidified point than regular ice. "We have something very important at our disposal, and I intend to use it."

"Yes sir, Flurious!" Norg saluted Flurious and scurried off towards the Chiller Chamber.

On the San Angeles Docks…

The numerous Chiller boats docked and the Chillers and Mack began making their way into the mainland. Mack climbed up the fire escape of an abandoned business building and looked around, surveying his path. He pulled out the walkie-talkie from his pocket and called up Flurious.

"We are prepared to move."

"That's good to hear! Everyone has their orders, and I will have a little…surprise to help you as soon as it's finished." Flurious sounded cheery. "It will definitely keep those pesky Power Rangers off your backs."

"Good thing. I think I might need to use more than just these soldiers you've sent. They look very fragile from where I am."

Flurious's eye twitched. "Get going." He closed the transmission.

From afar, Miratrix looked on, waiting to see what was going on. Suddenly, Mack began dashing across rooftops, leaping from one to the other. The Chillers started to run around as well, yet dividing into groups. "…What is going on…?" She waited for Mack to pass by two buildings before the ninja strafed up and began chasing him.

"I'm going to find out just what is going on here…"

Back at the Hartford Mansion…

Spencer began carrying the laundry baskets down to the laundry room, but found himself standing outside Mack's room, the broken door half-propped up against the wall. "I suppose I'll have to fix that soon." He muttered to himself as he walked in to retrieve Mack's laundry basket. He sighed as he looked at the clock; it was 2 pm, and Mack would have been running into Spencer at this time as he grabbed an adventure book to read outside in his hammock.

He had grown so used to it, that even though he knew Mack was not in the house, he half-expected to here him call out "Hey, Spencer!" as he walked in on cue.

He picked up the basket with an air of disappointment and began to leave the room. He stopped as Hartford walked in with a morose look about his face.

"…Is there something you need, sir?" Spencer asked.

Hartford opened his mouth to speak, but the words did not come. He sighed instead.

"If you are not going to say anything, then I need to get these things done. I have dinner to start soon; I'm making shepherd's pie and I haven't even started with the dough."

Spencer walked past Hartford as he stood silently. He got to the top of the stairwell before Hartford began to speak. "Did Mack…was he…always miserable…because of what I told him?"

Spencer turned around and gave Hartford a look. "Sir, I cannot answer that question fully; I can't read minds, you know."

"Well, what do you know?"

"May I ask why you are so curious? I understand that you want a little closure, but you're pursuing this almost as strenuously as you had done so with the Corona Aurora."

"I don't want to make the same mistake twice, Spencer." Hartford stated before making his way downstairs, bypassing the slightly stunned butler.

"…I do believe I've witnessed a sudden burst of maturity." Spencer muttered to himself as he continued his trek to the laundry room.

Down in the Command Center…

"Okay, so chances are, after all my calculations, I've come up with a short timeline of events." Rose said, holding up a paper with a timeline drawn onto it. "Now, roughly two years ago, Mr. Hartford happened upon the site where Mack had been, and he brought Mack back here to the Mansion. Now, if we've been looking for the Jewels for seven months, and Sentinel Knight said it took Hartford about six months to mobilize everything, so that's 13 months."

"Oh man, 13. No wonder this month's so unlucky." Dax commented.

"Well, then add to that the fact that Hartford mindwiped Mack about six months after he arrived, which's about 18 months from this point in time."

"So there was only a window of five months between Mack being mindwiped and Hartford finding the Corona…" Will said, pacing and thinking along with Rose. He stopped and looked up at her. "…But what does this have to do with anything?"

"…I'm not sure. I'm just bored." Rose replied, setting the paper down. "But it does show that Mack only had a year's worth of his own memories when we met him."

"And to think…he never seemed to show it." Ronny replied from the corner, sitting between the two firepoles.

"I wonder…I wonder if he was ever upset while he was wandering around at night?" Rose muttered.

"Hm?" Will questioned.

"Mack used to wander around a lot at night. I wonder if he ever…knew. I mean, if I believed that I had amnesia, I would spend a lot of time trying to force myself to remember. Do you think he ever had a moment where Hartford's mindwipe suddenly failed a little, and it left him confused? I mean, he must've had a drastically different life than he has here…"

"I don't think we'll ever know the answer to that." Tyzonn replied. He then looked over at Ronny, who was now standing in front of the giant map.

"Hm…nothing seems to be going on…not even a signal from Mack…even if he was sleeping or hibernating or something, he'd still give a signal, right?" Ronny asked, looking back at Rose.

"Hm, it doesn't seem like the tracker's on…lemme try adjusting it…" Rose shimmied Ronny over and pressed a few buttons. The result was immediate and monstrous; the alarms shrieked at their peak volume, the lights dimming suddenly to 'alert red'.

The group grabbed their ears and winced in pain, and upstairs Spencer and Hartford followed suit. Once the alarms stopped, the Rangers and Sentinel Knight stared at the monitor in pure shock.

"This can't be good." Rose commented, her eyes opening widely as her pupils grazed over the zoomed-up map. "This can't be good at all."

Mack charged across the rooftops at top speed, trying to make good time. A burning sensation shot up through his feet and legs until it touched the center of his back, where an unusually long jump shot a cold sting up his spine, rendering him immobile. He collapsed to the ground, further sending the burning sensation through him.

He winced and pushed himself into a sitting position. "Maybe I'm going too fast…" He muttered to himself. A sudden landing sound made him look back over his right shoulder as he began to catch his breath. He was greeted by a wakizashi to the left side of his neck.

"Getting tired, Red Ranger?" Miratrix commented.

"Catching my breath." Mack replied. Miratrix put her blade away as she watched him.

"Are you…alright? I'd hate to off a wounded animal." She commented.

"Why do you care?" Mack asked rudely.

"Well, like I said, it's no fun to hunt you down if you're not at the top of your game." Miratrix said, sitting down next to him.

"So this is all just a game to you." Mack huffed.

"I guess you can think of it that way." Miratrix grinned.

"All you humans are the same," Mack commented. "to all of you, my existence is just some prize to a dangerous game. I am getting incredibly tired of it."

"Do all of…you think that way?" Miratrix asked.

"If 'you' is referring to us Jewels, then I cannot answer. I have not seen my kin in millennia."

"I guess then I shouldn't ask if you knew where the last Jewel is." Miratrix laughed. Mack scowled, wiping the smile off her face.

After a moment, he sighed. "I suppose that you are the one called 'Miratrix'. Am I right?"

"…Yes. Why do you ask?"

"The way you look spoke volumes as to your identity." Mack replied, a smile spreading thickly across his face.

"Oh…kay…" Miratrix replied in a confused tone, unsure what to make of the comment. Mack began laughing softly for a moment. "Maybe it's best I don't ask what you mean."

"Well, if you want an explanation, I would not mind giving one. See, your name is very similar to a word I know that refers to…a type of woman who…chases men around. I think…it suits you." Mack grinned.

"Well, I am a fairly skilled ninja…I suppose I have a bit of a fashion sense, too…" Miratrix beamed.

"Pardon me but…what is a 'ninja'?"

Miratrix blinked. "…Nevermind." The two sat there a moment, and a thought crossed her mind that Mack's odd comment forced her to bypass. "Wait, you didn't know my name?"

"I suppose we've met before on terms less…hunter-prey related…in the last year and a half?"

"You've lost your memory?" Miratrix asked, giving him a bewildered look. "Well, that explains a lot."

"I suppose you have a piece of insight you would not mind sharing?"

Miratrix smiled. "You're too naïve if you think I'd help you."

"I asked politely, but I would not trust you would do so."

"…You're not as naïve as I thought."

"I am far from naïve. Frankly, I do not trust you right now."

"Good. I wouldn't either."

"I do not trust you, and Flurious, and especially anyone associated with Andrew Hartford."

"Hartford? Seriously?" She leaned back slightly out of shock. "That's truly a surprise."

"Is it because I am the leader of his…Power Rangers?" He asked.

"Yeah. I mean…aren't you supposed to be his kid, too?"

Mack felt the venom of the word travel through him; what it entailed, what lies hid beneath it, and the deception that came with it. He scowled as the flashbacks rapidly flashed through his mind, suddenly slamming into the wall blocking off the last year and a half of his memories. He gasped slightly as his mind reset back to normal thoughts.

"Did I ask a bad question?" Mack did not respond with anything more of a forlorn look. Miratrix looked away for a moment, thinking of some way to kill the awkward silence. "So…uh...what's Flurious got you doing?" Mack raised an eyebrow. "Well, if it's got anything to do with ruining someone's life besides mine and Kamdor's…well, I've got nothing better to do."

"If I was in a better condition, I would not tell you…but I suppose, if you are feeling devious and listless…" He grinned.

Down on the streets, Moltor followed a signal he picked up earlier, only to find that something had drastically changed since then. "This can't be right…" He turned to face his army of Lava Lizards. "Split up into groups of three. Follow every single one of these signals! One of them has to be the Garnet Sun! Eliminate all of the fakes!"

A Chiller ran by, tripping his alarm. "Eh?" He looked closely at the Chiller. "My brother…that lying, no good, overgrown snow cone! He led me on!"

"There's like…two dozen different signals in San Angeles." Rose muttered.

"He can't be in that many places at once! It's impossible!" Ronny replied.

Spencer and Hartford ran downstairs to view the alert.

"What's going on with the alarms?" Hartford asked.

"Mack is all over the city…literally." Dax replied.

"There's no way we'll hit every-wait a moment!" Rose focused in on a stray black signal. "Great, that's Moltor's signal. We'll probably have to split up to find Mack."

"Whatever. We'll get him first. We can't afford to let Moltor win this."

"Okay, we need a plan…" Hartford said. The Rangers looked back at Hartford strangely. "…What?"

"…'we'? As in 'us and you'?" Ronny asked, a biting tone lying beneath the surface of her voice.

"I thought maybe-"

"This is our mission. 'Our', as in 'us Rangers'. It's our mission to protect him from the forces bent on using him…all of them." Tyzonn said, putting emphasis on the final three words with a deep tone. Hartford paled, looking as if he had been punched in the gut as the Rangers formed a huddle with the Sentinel Knight.

"Okay, I've got a plan." Will said. "Sentinel Knight, we'll need you to stay here, since there looks to be a few signals heading this way. You never know what they could be."

"I shall stand guard. If you should need my help, call upon me for assistance."

"The five of us will split up from there; Tyzonn will go due north, Dax will go north-east, Rose will go south-east, Ronny will go south-west, and I will go north-west. Everyone good with that?" The four other Rangers nodded. "Alright, then let's Ranger up and get some of those spare bikes out of the garage." The quintet left the room through the secondary exit, which led to the Zord Bay and Vehicle Garage.

Mack sat on top of the building, trying to warm himself up by rubbing his hands over his long sleeved blood red turtleneck the he had been wearing underneath his wool sweater. The sun's warmth was doing little for him, much to his surprise.

"I'm not sure if this will work…" Miratrix said, running her hands over a few glimmering red panels in the sweater.

"Believe in my plan; it will work perfectly." Mack smiled.

"If you say so." Miratrix replied. She sat back and sighed. "So…now we wait?"

"I would love to continue moving, but I'm not recovering well…"

"You're not feeling good, are you?"

"I am almost prepared to continue."

"Whatever. This is your plan." Miratrix replied, grabbing her long rat tail and unwinding the cloth wrap, preparing to braid it.

Mack sighed deeply and leaned back against a large fan grate. After a few moments, he looked over at her. "May I ask you a question?"

"You just did." Miratrix slyly replied, laughing quickly to herself.

"I mean…a different question."

"Sure, why not? Like we're doing anything else important." Miratrix rolled her eyes. "So, what is it?"

"I…I have grown interested in the true desires of people. I wish to know yours."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked suggestively.

"Well, I grew interested many millennia ago in regards to what humans desired more than anything else. What they would do with the power of myself and my kin, I would ponder."

"That is a good question. I would take over the world with you and your…kin…alongside Kamdor." She laughed. "Did you think I had another answer?"

"I was hoping that you were thinking of something more…personal. But I suppose it's your wish…"

"Oh? A wish? Well, I'd wish for all the power I could possibly have."

"And if you had that already?"

Miratrix sat and thought long and hard about her answer. All she had ever craved was power, but the little voice inside that had been squelched long ago spoke up. "I'd…wish for love."

"Love?" Mack seemed quite confused.

"Yes, love. If I had all the power in the world, I'd want someone to share it with."

"What about your master?"

"Hah. If I had all the power, he'd be spit shining my boots. I mean somebody I could rule beside, to be the king to my queen. What fun would being all-powerful be if I didn't have somebody to laugh with when I zap-fried some insolent fool for trying to destroy me?"

"Would you not worry about them betraying you?"

"If they loved me, they'd never betray me."

"…I understand."

"How about you? If you had all the power in the world, what would you do?"

"I would…well...I…I don't know." Mack huffed. "I would…protect the innocent and weak, travel the world, study everything, experience the beauty of this planet that I am stuck on for eternity before its sun goes nova and destroys it, flinging me back out into the cold emptiness of the vacuum…" Mack looked up at the sky, but became distracted by the distant sound of motor vehicles. He spotted the Rangers' colorful and reflective suits. "There they are!"

"Hurry then!" Miratrix shouted, gathering up her corded bundle.

Mack went to leave, but quickly turned around. "It has been nice speaking to you on these terms."

"Yeah well, savor it; this is the last time we meet like this."

"I doubt it." Mack grinned and made his way east as Miratrix headed southwest towards the Rangers.

"Hey! Power Dorks! You're too late!" She shouted, laughing as she bounded from roof to roof. "I got the Garnet Sun! You'll never catch me!"

Dax sneered. "I'll follow her. You follow the other points, just in case she's lying."

"Right."

Mack dashed off to the south as the Rangers passed by, completely unaware of his presence. He spotted a small group of Chillers, the ones he was to rendezvous with. His walkie-talkie buzzed, and he answered it.

"You five head for the mansion. The Rangers look completely preoccupied."

"Good."

"They might still have a guard, so let the Chiller run out ahead of you."

"I will."

"Good. Now go." Flurious cut his transmission.

Meanwhile…

A trio of Lava Lizards hunted down their prey, only to find a pair of red-scarved Chillers dashing off. "Get them!" The lead lizard shouted, sending his partners into a frenzy.

"Not so fast!" Tyzonn shouted, firing off several rounds of laser blasts from atop his ATV. The Lava Lizards stopped short of the blasts, avoiding the damage and changing course. "Darn!" He cut the trio off with his ATV as he transformed his Drive Detector back into its lance mode. "What are you two up to?"

"They have the Jewel!" The lead lizard spoke.

"Then that's a good reason to stop you!" He slashed the leader, sending him flying back. He then slashed the Lava Lizard to his left, knocking him down next to his leader.

The lizard on Tyzonn's left charged at him and Tyzonn reacted by tossing his Drive Detector at him, confusing the Lava Lizard as he stood there, holding it. Tyzonn then kicked it out of his hands and drove his foot squarely into the bottom of the lizard's jaw, knocking it back and stunning it. Tyzonn caught the lance and spun around, slashing the lizard's chest and rendering it unconscious and lying on top of its team mates. Tyzonn rested the lance on his shoulder and momentarily observed his work. "Good riddance."

He then got on his ATV and tracked the two Chillers down, who turned around to greet him with explosive blasts fired from their 'mouths'.

Tyzonn deftly dodged the blasts and stopped the ATV directly in front of them. "Alright, hand over the Garnet Sun." Tyzonn requested, holding out his hand. The Chillers looked at each other, shrugged, then grabbed Tyzonn's arm and yanked him off the ATV.

The pair tossed him a good twenty feet away, where he crashed into the blacktop. "I should've known it wasn't going to be that easy…" Tyzonn mentally kicked himself while mumbling. "It's never that easy." He slowly got up as he heard his bike revving up from behind him. "Oh no!" A Chiller now drove his ATV at top speed towards him, giving him barely enough time to roll and dodge.

Tyzonn scrambled to his feet and charged towards the ATV, which was turning around. Tyzonn shifted his Drive Detector to blaster mode and fired off several rounds at the Chiller, nailing it in the head and chest and sending it flying off the back of the ATV. Tyzonn grabbed one of the handlebars and straddled the ATV, gaining full control of it just in time to power slide it into the other Chiller and blast it several times with the Drive Detector. The Chillers exploded into thousands of ice cubes which quickly melted away.

Tyzonn scanned the remains for traces of Mack's energy signature, and found something unusual. He walked over to the second Chiller's remaining scarf and scanned it. "This red crystal covering the scarf is giving off readings…I should send these back to the base." He sent the scarf, along with its partner from the other Chiller, through the teleportation system.

"What's this, Master Tyzonn?" Spencer asked.

"The Chillers were wearing those. They're giving off Mack's energy signature."

"Interesting. I shall have to examine this for myself." Spencer replied.

In Flurious's Robot Bay…

Flurious marveled at his new creation: a mecha gyro created from the quick-hardening red crystalline fluid he had obtained from Mack. "By harnessing the power of the Garnet Sun's solar energy absorption, my newest robot will be unstoppable!" He laughed sadistically. "Chillers! Hoist this into the robot's chassis. We don't have time to waste!"

Back in San Angeles…

Rose continued scouting her sector, turning up only a few Chillers and a few scarves. However, this scan turned up a large group of incoming enemies. "Oh boy, here comes trouble." She muttered, summoning her Drive Geyser and revving her bike's engine.

She drove towards the source of the enemy's signal, which also happened to be chasing a trio of Jewel signatures. She spotted the cause down the lane she turned onto; Moltor and a handful of Lava Lizards were chasing a trio of Chillers.

"Great, just my lucky day." She deadpanned.

"A Ranger? Ha! Flurious's got you fooled, too, eh?" Moltor called out.

"I guess he's making fools outta all of us."

"Well, we've narrowed down our search here…all that's left is you!" Moltor pointed his sword at Rose. "Attack!"

"Figures." She muttered to herself as she revved up her bike. She fired at the Chillers first, melting their feet to the ground with heated water blasts. The Lava Lizards took advantage of her diverted attention and circled around her and the bike.

"Whoa!" She shouted, screeching to a halt. The Lava Lizards taunted her by moving in closer. "Time to make some doughnuts." She grinned and sped up her bike, then leaned to her left side and planted her foot firmly on the ground, letting her bike guide her body around in a circle as she fired rapid concussive blasts of water, taking out all the Lava Lizards in only three rotations.

She stopped and pointed her attention directly at Moltor. "You're next."

"Ha! You think I'll run away from a little girl like you?"

"I'm having a really bad day, so if I were you, I'd back off."

"I don't care! Take this!" He fired a plasma lightning blast at Rose, and narrowly missed her. She dodged several more shots and fired several water blasts which struck nearby. "Hm…" She revved her bike and hit top speed, then fired off a round of distraction shots before jumping off. The blasts preoccupied Moltor long enough for the bike to slam into him and send him flying and crashing into a parked car.

Moltor rolled off the hood and growled. "Fine! Have it your way! You won't find the Red Ranger anyway!" He teleported off as Rose got to her feet.

"That's what you think." Rose replied. She quickly finished off the Chillers and took their scarves. "Here Spencer. These're giving off Jewel signatures."

"I will take them, Miss Rose." She sent them back to the base.

Hartford stared at the pile of scarves that had accumulated, knowing full well what was going on. "Sir, is something troubling you?" Spencer asked.

"They look like they've been dipped in liquid crystal…" Hartford muttered. "There's so many of them…I…" He fell silent for the moment, then drew his hand up to his mouth, as if trying to stifle a momentary response. "I hope they find Mack soon."

"This is most definitely a disturbing find." Sentinel Knight spoke up, grabbing one of the scarves. "But I somehow feel that this is all a trap…that he has us running in circles to keep us from something…"

"Flurious is not typically this cunning." Hartford replied.

"True…but if he has the Garnet Sun in his possession, who knows what he's up to?"

"Look," Sentinel Knight pointed at the lower half of the map. "they've sent a small group of fighters this way…along with another weak signaled Jewel signature."

"Probably just another group of Chillers." Hartford commented.

"They might know that we have the jeweled scarves, and might be looking to bring them back to Flurious." Spencer added.

"Well, I will pursue them and drive them off the-what's this now?" The large group separated into its six units and spread out. "Hm…I think it's another trap. But I will take care of them."

"Right. Go do that then." Hartford waved Sentinel Knight out.

Spencer sighed as Hartford moped upstairs shortly after Sentinel Knight walked out. "I wish he would stop being so hard on himself when he should be worrying about finding Mack…" He muttered to himself.

Meanwhile…

Miratrix continued to run across the rooftops as Dax chased her below. Dax got sick of chasing Miratrix and planned to join her on the rooftops. "Double-O Zip Shooter!" He summoned up his zip line and turned his bike off as he flew up into the skyline. He landed in the roof in front of the one Miratrix was on, and she stopped at the sight of him.

It was then that Dax realized that she didn't have Mack at all; she was carrying a straw man covered in a Jewel-encrusted sweater.

"Ha! I knew you were lying!" Dax shouted, pointing at her.

"Then why did you follow me?" Miratrix asked as she leaped over to the roof Dax was on.

"Just to make sure. Can't be too careful. There's a lot of Jewel signatures floating around the city."

Miratrix dropped the straw man and slowly walked towards Dax. "Oh, I don't think that's the reason why…" She grinned as she got up close to him.

"If you think it has anything to do…with you…you're sorely mistaken!" Dax replied, his voice wavering slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" She kicked him in the chest, planting him on his back. "You're just coming to see me."

Dax summoned his Drive Vortex and fired at her, sending her flying back. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm so over you." He said, getting to his feet.

Miratrix grimaced and grabbed her kunai and rope, tossing the small blade in Dax's direction. The kunai looped around from the right side of his neck and around his pulled back left arm. Before he could react, Miratrix yanked the rope, tightly pressing his Drive Vortex-holding hand against his throat and forcing him to move along with her.

She planted her feet firmly against the wall of the building she was supposed to hit and waited for Dax to come close. She tightly looped her end of the rope around her hand and ninja strafed back to the opposing roof just as Dax slammed into the building wall beside her, and the speed of her sudden movement acted like a slingshot, violently flinging Dax back to where he had been before and denting the ground on impact.

Miratrix walked over and untied Dax. "I'll take this back. I think you've had enough." She grinned, pinning him down as she untied him. She got up and relooped her kunai rope back in place.

"Where's Mack?" Dax snipped as Miratrix let him up.

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

Dax decided to try and make her slip up. "He was up on the roof with you, wasn't he? When we saw you, I mean."

"You're smarter than I give you credit for." Miratrix replied. Dax felt amazed that his guess was accurate.

"Where is he now?"

"Oh, I can't tell you. I wouldn't tell you, even if I could."

"Liar."

"Please. I have better things to do than lie to you!" She turned around to leave, but Dax stopped her.

"You'd better not hurt him, or you'll have to answer to us!"

"He doesn't even know who you twits are! He didn't even know who I was! Don't think he's crawling back to you guys any time soon! He's got a better chance of allying with me anyways." She smirked. "Well, I did what he asked me to do as a favor, so my job here is done. Have fun finding him!" She ninja strafed away, leaving the straw man behind.

Dax powered down and called the other Rangers. "Miratrix didn't have Mack, but she was with him right before we spotted her."

"What?" Will said, stopping his bike. "What was he doing with her?"

"He asked her to distract us. I think she's a little upset that she only managed to distract me, though."

"Why would Mack want us to be distracted?" Ronny asked.

"If you ask me, this whole thing's been one big distraction for everybody." Rose replied, finishing her quick inspection of her bike.

"Maybe he doesn't want to be found?" Tyzonn asked. "He's mostly been trying to make sure that none of us had him in our custody."

"But why would he have a small army of Chillers, along with Miratrix, helping him if he doesn't want our help?" Ronny asked.

"Maybe it's specifically us." Tyzonn replied. The group fell silent for a moment, then synchronously commented. "Hartford."

"Well, we have to find him soon, because who knows what he's up to!" Tyzonn commented, picking up the straw man. "Anybody figure out what's on those scarves yet?"

"I think I know…but I hope I'm wrong." Rose replied. "Let's meet up in the town square and figure out what to do from there."

"Right." The Rangers ended their transmissions and began making their way to the town square.

Back at the Mansion…

Hartford stood in the middle of Mack's room, looking around and feeling entirely empty. He sat down on the lightly crumpled sheets, the bed creaking gently beneath him. The last year and a half had been nothing short of amazing for him; Mack was well-behaved and precocious, buying every book that jumped out at him and reading every single one.

There wasn't a book on his giant shelf that he hadn't read at least five or six times already, including the dictionaries, thesauruses, and atlases. Mack wanted to know everything about the world, about the cultures, the religions, the climates, the people.

The people, most of all.

Perhaps, he should have taken Mack along on trips. He had been so worried that something horrible would happen to Mack, that he couldn't find it in himself to let the poor boy leave. He had, after all, everything he had gathered in his own travels right there for Mack to observe and study and learn from.

"_The journey is half the adventure,"_ he reminded himself. He neglected to think about Mack all this time, and watching him in the last several months since Operation Overdrive had begun reminded him of his own desire to adventure once more.

But Mack…even when powerless, or desperate to save the others, or even when the worst of luck befell him, he was happy. He was with people roughly around the age he resembled, he was traveling the world having legendary adventures, he was finally observing his fellow Jewels of the Corona Aurora…he was living the life he had wanted from the day he had arrived…even if Hartford himself prevented him from exactly remembering that it was what he wanted.

He looked over to the nightstand, at Mack's morpher. His own failure had led to Mack's happiness. He thought Mack would've been happy living a blissful, if blank, life in the mansion…but Mack had found it abroad.

He reached out and grabbed the morpher, looking it over. Mack was brave and skilled enough to face the tasks that he faced; it was only by fate that Mack had stopped him from taking his place in said fate. If Mack hadn't stopped him…

"Ah, there you are, sir." Spencer said, knocking Hartford out of his reverie. He looked up, looking only slightly happier. "I was wondering where you had gone off to. I checked your office to bring you a cup of coffee, but I suppose you…came up here again."

"I…I'm going back down to the Command Center." Hartford replied, standing up. "I've spent enough time in here as it is. You can bring my coffee down to the work table." He walked downstairs, sliding his hands into his pockets.

Spencer looked out of the doorway at the disheveled mentor. "Perhaps I should warm up that coffee that's sitting on his desk for him…I doubt he'd notice in this condition…" He then made his way down to Hartford's office.

Outside, on the main lawn…

Mack dashed across the lawn as he made sure nobody was around to spot him. He approached the front door of the mansion and slowly opened it. He quickly darted in, being as silent as he could possibly be.

He surveyed his surroundings and made sure he wouldn't be seen. He could hear movement in an unknown room, but other than that, he was in the clear.

He began to make his way to his objective, but found himself getting dizzy from hunger on the way. He put his hand up against a wall to keep from falling to the ground and making too much noise. He looked down at his stomach with disdain. "I haven't eaten much all day, and you pick now to complain." He frowned and made his way into the kitchen.

He walked into the kitchen to find some food sitting around as the beginnings of a pot roast slowly simmered on the stovetop. Mack grabbed half a carrot and began to gnaw on it, feeling a bit better as he continued looking around. He peeked at the pot roast and inhaled the warming aroma, sliding out a hunk of potato from the brownish soup surrounding the massive hunk of meat and popping it in his mouth after finishing off the carrot.

He opened the fridge and scouted around for whatever looked good to him. He heard a cough ring out from the other side of the fridge door and panicked. He closed the door and looked up, startling Spencer.

"Master Mack! I didn't expect you to…well, be here!" Spencer cheerily commented. "I'm surprised you managed to make it back here in one piece, from what I've been hearing."

"I'm surprised that I am in one piece, as well." Mack softly replied.

"Are you looking for something to eat, sir? If you wait a couple of hours, the pot roast will be done."

"Oh, I'm looking for instant sustenance." Mack replied.

"Using the advanced vernacular again, are we?" Spencer teased.

"I'll stop." Mack replied, sitting himself down at the table.

"I'll fetch you a glass of lemonade…you look very dehydrated."

"That will do." Mack replied with a smile on his face.

Spencer poured him a glass of lemonade, then stuck the coffee mug he had been carrying around into the microwave. "Well, your father is in the Command Center right now…I'll just bring this down to him and let him know you're here and alive. He'll perk right up and finally attach his head to his shoulders." Spencer chuckled, and Mack's eye twitched.

"Oh! Don't let him know I'm here. I'd like to surprise him." Mack smiled, getting up from his seat and reaching up above him.

"I see. Well then, I'll just bring him the coffee then."

Mack crept up behind him with a frying pan and slammed him against the head, knocking Spencer to the floor. Mack braced himself as Spencer fell to the floor, hoping he hadn't done any permanent damage.

He set the frying pan on the stand and knelt beside the now-unconscious Spencer, checking his vitals and the point of impact. "Good, you'll be fine." Mack smiled. "I didn't want to do that, but you understand that I can't have anyone knowing I'm here, correct?" He got up and took an ice pack out of the freezer, then rolled Spencer on his back and placed the pack on the point of impact. "Now…to finish Flurious's goal…" He looked over at the microwave as he stood up and rotated his shoulder with a slight grimace across his face.

In the town square…

The Rangers parked their vehicles and powered down, then huddled around the fountain.

"So, has anyone thought of anything on the way here?" Ronny asked.

"Well, like I said, I think I know what this substance is on the scarves." Rose took a scarf out of the back box of her bike, then held it up.

"Oh?" Ronny replied.

"Well, you remember how when Mr. Hartford was talking about Mack first arrived, how he was going on about how Mack's body is composed similarly to ours? Well, if I'm right, then this is what I think is his equivalent to blood."

"Blood?" Ronny sounded confused.

"Well, it looks very much like long synthesized plates of garnet, a little off-color and not as shiny, but definitely a synthesized type of garnet. I used to have a man-made garnet stone that looked similar to this…but I'm getting off-topic." Rose looked at the group.

"Wow…if that's Mack's blood all over those scarves…" Dax began to think aloud.

"Mack might be in trouble. He might already be too far gone for us to help him…" Tyzonn replied.

"Mack's a pretty tough guy, but you may be right…that is a lot of blood." Will commented.

"Can a Jewel of the Corona die?" Dax asked, drawing attention. "I mean, not to sound…Jewelist or anything, but he's not exactly a living thing. I mean, sure he could run out of power, but you could just pop him under the sun again and he'd be fine…right?" Dax looked around the group, hoping to find support to his ramblings.

"Honestly, this is the first time I've ever had to think like this, so even I don't have the answer, Dax. We can only hope that he's alright for the time being." Rose replied.

"But that still leaves us with one last question: why would Flurious go through all this trouble to distract us and tip off that he has Mack? It makes no sense." Will commented.

"Maybe…maybe he's using Mack to distract us from something else!" Dax replied. The group looked at him with weird looks. "Well, that's how it works in the movies; the bad guy takes over a building and demands money, but what he's really after is some sort of revenge on the hero who comes to stop him. It's such a classic."

"But what would Flurious want with any of us? Why is he pulling the wool over our eyes?"

Dax pulled the sweater he retrieved from Miratrix out from his bike's back compartment. "Mack is too, literally. I mean, if he's still up and moving."

Will looked over at Dax. "Dax, earlier you said that Miratrix said she was with Mack, and that they went in opposing directions when on the roof, right?"

"Yeah."

"So if she headed slightly northwest, then Mack started heading slightly southeast."

"Well, what's southeast besides the tip of the bay?"

Rose's eyes widened. "The mansion."

"Flurious let Mack return to the mansion? There's definitely something wrong with that." Will replied.

"What are they up to…?" Tyzonn asked.

An explosion erupting from the middle of the bay interrupted them. Tyzonn's morpher, which had been opened earlier to preoccupy his hand while thinking, began screeching wildly.

"What's going on?" Ronny asked.

"I think we're gonna need the zords." Dax commented as the behemoth rose from the water.

Back in the Command Center…

Hartford stared sadly into the blanked out screen; the number of signals dropping off until all but two of the signals were left. He sighed deeply and collapsed into his chair; he knew that the Rangers failed to find Mack, and that they might never find him.

He heard a rattling of footsteps make their way down the stairs. "Spencer, just sit it on the table. I'll drink it later; I'm…not really thirsty."

He received no response, and he became unnerved; Spencer wasn't one to take an order without verbal replies. He turned his chair around and the sight startled him.

Mack stood in the doorway, slouched slightly and holding a cup of coffee. Hartford's eyes widened and a weary smile spread across his face as he got up from his chair and approached Mack.

Hartford smiled and reached out to Mack as he came close to him. "I've been so worried about you…thank god you're alive…" He got within ten feet of Mack and Mack's vapid expression turned sour, and with lightning-fast speed, he swung the coffee cup upwards, flinging an arc of the hot liquid into Hartford's face, scalding him and stunning him long enough for Mack to knock him to the floor and pin him.

"Where are the Jewels of the Corona that are in your possession?" Mack asked forcefully.

"What?" Hartford replied, trying to wipe the coffee out of his eyes.

"You don't deserve the Jewels of the Corona that you have. I'm relieving you of them. Now where are they?"

"You can't give them to Flurious; he's going to destroy the planet with them!"

Mack laughed. "You think I would be that stupid? Flurious is a bigger fool than you are. Now, where. Are. The Jewels. I will not ask again." Mack stood up with his hand clamped around the back of Hartford's neck.

"Over there." Hartford replied in a choked-up voice, gesturing over to the compartment where they sat.

Mack dragged him over to the case and Hartford slowly opened it. "I'm only doing this because I want you to let me go."

"No. Flurious requests your attendance in his throne room, and I am here to bring you there. The Jewels, however, are for me." The door opened, and the tray holding the Torhu Diamond and the Lucky Pearl, and Mack's eyes opened widely, nearly mirroring the look Hartford had on his face minutes ago. He gingerly picked them up from their protective pedestals with his spare hand and slid them in his pocket.

"Now, we shouldn't be late. Flurious has spent a lot of time and effort to get this done." Mack pulled his walkie-talkie from his pocket. "I will be within range for your teleportation in a few minutes."

"Excellent." Flurious replied. Mack turned off the walkie-talkie and began half-dragging Hartford out of the mansion.

Back in San Angeles…

The Rangers drove down to the bay where the large mechanical robot stood. The 30-foot tall automaton looked to be made of titanium and modeled after a twisted steampunk sort of Roman centurion, with a large vent in its back and numerous large blood-red panels on its shoulders, face mask, and chest. The large crystalline disk in the center of its chest seemed to be shielding a large spinning gyro which seemed to be composed of the same material. The most unusual part of this mecha was the fact that the blood red crystal seemed to be bursting through the armor, rather than it being grafted into it, as if the designs hadn't been planned as such.

"Well, I was right. We're definitely gonna need the zords for this." Dax commented.

Ronny pulled out her tracker and began calling into the Command Center, but got no response. "Spencer? Mr. Hartford? Anyone?" Still no response. "Guys…something's wrong." Suddenly, the other line clicked…

As Ronny had begun calling in, the Sentinel Knight dashed into the mansion, realizing that something had gone awry. "Andrew? Spencer?" He called out, looking around. He heard a moan from the kitchen and scurried in to find Spencer slowly making his way up.

"What happened here?" Sentinel Knight asked, helping Spencer to his feet.

"Mack…and Hartford…downstairs!" Spencer began making his way downstairs as fast as he could with Sentinel Knight in close pursuit.

They arrived to find the Jewels gone, and Ronny screaming over the intercom for help. "Spencer? Mr. Hartford? Anyone?"

Spencer approached the radio and began to respond as the Jewel alerts screeched through the room. "Ronny, what is going on?"

"Spencer! What's going on?"

"I'm afraid Mack has come and gone, and taken Mr. Hartford with him." Spencer replied. "I would've replied sooner, but I was a little…smashed at the time."

"This is no time to be relaxing! There's a giant robot in the bay and it looks pissed!" Dax shouted over Ronny's tracker.

"I'm sending the zords as we speak."

"I will go find Mack." Sentinel Knight replied. "I knew that was a trap, and this is my fault. I have to right this wrong myself."

"Godspeed, Sentinel Knight." Spencer replied.

"Keep your guard up, Spencer. Who knows what they'll be doing next." And with that, the Sentinel Knight dashed out of the Command Center.


	8. Chapter Seven: Hartford's Bold Maneuver

Mack's cold hand clamped tightly around the back of Hartford's neck as they marched down the driveway and into the wooded area that surrounded the mansion.

Hartford looked over at Mack, his face still stinging from the hot coffee. As angry as he might've been at any other person for doing that, he couldn't find it within himself to feel the same way about Mack. All he could feel was sorrow while looking at Mack's emotionally blank face. He saw strands of garnet-laced cloth hanging out of the sleeve of his sweater, and he wondered if that was the source of all the garnet on the scarves.

"Are you hurt?" Hartford asked him.

"Why should you care?" Mack replied coldly, not looking back at Hartford.

"Because I'm your-"

"Father?" Mack scoffed. "I was better off on my own, stuffed in a box, and collecting dust."

"I know you have a reason-"

Mack looked over at Hartford. "Only one reason? I have millions of reasons! I can't remember the last year and a half of my time on Earth because of you! You robbed me of the only thing I've ever had! The only thing I can hold on to dearly on this planet!" Mack's face seemed fixed in a painful glare as he spoke. "I'll be happy when Flurious is done with you." Mack looked away from him again, his visage slowly dropping back into its blank, emotionless state.

"Don't you have a code of ethics as a Jewel of the Corona?"

"Shouldn't you have one, as a man of considerable power?" Mack shot back.

Hartford tried one last time. "You can't do this, Mack!"

Mack suddenly stopped and looked at Hartford with an eerily blank expression. "There is no Mack. Mack Hartford is a lie you made me believe, I presume, and that you made everyone else believe to fit your twisted means. I was happily agreeing to what you wanted, and I was growing accustomed to you and Spencer when you decided to take it upon yourself to erase every memory I had to tell me lies about…whatever you told me." Mack continued walking, gripping Hartford's neck considerably tighter than before.

The roar of zords leaving their bays interrupted Mack, as he looked around in wonder in an attempt to find the source. "Why're the zords leaving…?" Hartford asked aloud, looking out to the source of the sound.

Mack smiled. "Apparently Flurious kept his promise about a surprise."

"Is there anything you didn't sell your soul for to Flurious?" Hartford jabbed.

"I'm not human, I have no soul to sell." Mack replied, lightly laughing. "Alright, we're almost there, Mr. Hartford." He placed a mocking emphasis on Hartford's formal title as they reached the end of the forest.

Sentinel Knight sprinted across the forest, Mack and Hartford dead in his sights. He reached his arm out just as a light began to envelop them. "No!" He shouted as they were absorbed by the light and spirited away mere yards from him. He dropped to his knees. "I was so close…" He slammed his fist against the ground. "I can't give up! The Rangers have enough to deal with now."

The Rangers shuffled inside the zords and formed the Ultrazord in record time, making sure they reached the giant hybrid monstrosity without delay before it reached the city.

"Stop right there!" Tyzonn shouted, pointing at the mechanical nightmare. They prepared the Drill Driver and began to swing at the giant robot-Jewel remnant hybrid to no avail, as it deftly deflected and dodged every swing.

"This thing's insanely smart!" Rose shouted. "Anyone or anything that hasn't fought us before couldn't possibly have memorized our fighting tactics this well!"

"You mean…you think it knows our moves by heart?" Ronny asked.

"I hope it doesn't know them all…" Rose replied.

They started up the jet boosters and shot up into the air, the monster watching intently as it took a few cautious steps back. "Prepare the fire! We're gonna melt this thing to the ground!" Rose shouted, powering up the giant chest panel.

A sudden jolt in the monster's chest happened instantaneously, and it stood watching the Ultrazord begin to fire off its laser.

"Fire!" The Rangers shouted, firing the fiery laser blast at the hybrid.

An eerie howl vibrated out through the beast's faceguard as it suddenly leaped backwards into the water, sending waves upwards to smash and disintegrate the blast in a smoky haze. The red orb in its chest lit up and violently discharged a blood-red solar-powered energy beam at the Ultrazord, severing the Shovel Driver and left wing from the rest of the Ultrazord.

"We're going down!" Rose shouted, trying to steer some stability into the trajectory. The Ultrazord was set to crash into the bay about a hundred yards away from the beast, and Will hit the ejection button, sending the Rangers sailing into the sky as they watched the Ultrazord smash into the water.

An eerie and almost familiar sound rose from the hybrid mecha below as it got up from the bay. "Is it…laughing at us?" Dax asked.

"It does sound like laughing, doesn't it?" Rose commented.

"Well, if it thinks we're done, he's got another thing coming!" Will replied with an air of confidence. "Spencer, bring out the Flashpoint zords!" He looked at Tyzonn. "It's your time to shine, my man." He commented, patting Tyzonn on the shoulder.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Will." Tyzonn replied as the cockpit began to land safely from the pair of parachutes deployed upon ejection.

A rush of cold air that only Hartford seemed to fully notice had drawn him and Mack suddenly upwards and instantaneously into Flurious's lair. Nearby, Norg stood by with a trio of Chillers, watching the situation.

"Here you are, Flurious. Andrew Hartford, the commander of the Power Rangers, as you desired." He pushed Hartford forward, making him stumble several steps forward.

"Ah! Excellent work." Flurious praised Mack as he walked down from his throne to greet the two. He grabbed the back corners of Hartford's jaws and pulled his face closer to his own as Norg scurried over to Mack with a bowl of soup. "I don't think we've properly met face to face before, have we?"

Hartford fortified his shaking nerves as best as he could by trying to maintain his proud gaze.

Norg held the bowl of soup to Mack's face. "Would you like some more soup? You look hungry."

"I think I could use another bowl, thank you." Mack smiled weakly and took the bowl, then sat cross-legged on the floor and watched Flurious ahead of him, grinning wickedly.

"I don't believe I've properly thanked you for releasing me from my prison," Mack's eyes widened slightly at the statement, and breathed slightly heavier as he continued. "so I think I'll start right now." He pushed Hartford both upward and forward, sending him flying over Mack's head and hitting the ground ten feet behind him.

Mack looked back, mildly amused. "What do you know? Dinner and a show."

Norg clapped. "You just made a rhyme, Mr. Garnet Sun! You are very smart!"

"Thank you."

The eerie silence was shattered by a piercing cry rising up from Hartford's body. His head perked up and his eyes traveled to his watch, and he slowly reached for his watch.

"What is that noise?" Flurious barked as the noise drew the throne room's occupants' undivided attention.

"It's my dinner alarm. I…sometimes get caught up in my work, and I forget when dinner's ready. My butler runs a tight ship, and he keeps me remembering the time."

"Still having that problem?" Mack grinned.

"Old habits die hard." Hartford replied as he turned off his watch.

Meanwhile…

"Did you see where the signal was?" Sentinel Knight asked in a concerned tone.

"Hartford's GPS tracker gave off signals in the far north, right about…here." Spencer replied, closing in on a patch of an ice floe.

"Good. I will go there then!" Sentinel Knight struck a heroic pose before dashing out.

Back in San Angeles…

Tyzonn popped his neck as the Flashpoint Megazord's legs rose to their proper height. "Alright, whatever you are…hope you're ready for round two." Tyzonn softly warned as he tightly gripped the steering wheel at 10 and 2 and swiftly charged into battle.

"Alright, I should mix up my blows, just in case it knows some of my moves…" Tyzonn muttered aloud as he looked at his controls, deciding what sequences were easy to roll through back and forth. "Okay, here goes nothing…"

The beast recognized the megazord's presence and charged him with its long claws outstretched. Tyzonn sidestepped and karate chopped it in the neck, stunning it long enough for him to follow up with a kick to the solar plexus, a punch to the face, and a quick grab of the arm attacked with for a little swing around toss into the bay.

The monster crashed face-down, making a big splash.

"Wow, Ty's really giving it to that overgrown tin can…" Rose marveled.

"Keep it up, Tyzonn!" Ronny shouted.

"Here I go! Charging hydro cannons!" As he began charging the cannons, the hybrid mecha got up, looking enraged. It charged the Flashpoint Megazord emitting a loud wailing sound, its hand outstretched to strike.

"Low bridge!" Tyzonn shouted, dropping the Flashpoint's legs and effectively dodging the attack, leaving the monster stunned by the move. "Fire!" Tyzonn fired the pressurized cannon blasts from his lower position, effectively blasting away hunks of outer crystal plates and denting some of the metallic structure while launching the beast back into the bay with a sickening crash.

The Rangers cheered as Tyzonn jacked the legs back up and struck a short victory pose.

Back on the ice floe…

Hartford was peeled off the floor by a trio of Chillers and walked back to Flurious and forced to kneel in front of him. Mack handed Norg back the bowl and smiled before getting up and making his way towards the exit.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Flurious angrily barked, making Mack stop in his tracks.

"I have fulfilled your innermost desire. I am no longer needed, and I am free to go as I please."

"I found you, and that makes me your master, and I have not permitted you to leave."

Mack turned around and glared. "I have no master. No creature, human or otherwise, has the right to own me or anything else it deems lower than itself."

Hartford began laughing softly to himself. "What's so funny?" Flurious asked, kicking him in the back. Hartford looked out towards Mack and broke a smile.

"Did you honestly think Flurious would let a Jewel of the Corona Aurora just waltz out of his cave? You're as much a prisoner of Flurious as I am."

Mack looked out to Flurious. "You can't be serious. You're going to hold me against my will?"

"Well, you can't leave me, in the sense of an alliance."

"Don't lie to him! He deserves better than that!" Hartford shouted. Flurious sneered and kicked the back of his head, sending his face smacking into the floor in front of him.

"Because only you're allowed to do that, right Andrew?" Mack replied coldly.

"Now, my dear friend, I do believe that if you're going to go somewhere, I should remind you first that this was not only my innermost desire, but yours as well." Hartford looked up at Mack, hoping he would disagree. "You remember your desire to help the world by ridding it of people like Andrew Hartford?"

"I do." Mack replied. "People who abuse the kindness of others by manipulating and hurting them don't deserve the gift of life."

Flurious smiled. "Perhaps then…you would like the honor of starting your goal here, with the one person you hate the most." Flurious grinned as the Chillers lifted the mildly battered Hartford to his feet.

"I would, but…" Mack held his hands up, palms facing upward, and looked at them, as if trying to divine a reason or excuse from them. He then looked at Flurious and spoke in a soft tone. "I dislike fighting people unarmed. It's almost…primal to do it that way."

Flurious tapped his staff against the floor, causing a long, thick, sharply ended pole of ice to slowly rise from the floor right in front of Mack. "Will this do?"

Mack pulled the makeshift spear from the floor and began to spin it around in his hands to test it out. After a few moments, he stopped and stood with the tip pointed at Hartford's face. "It's a bit heavy…and it's not flexible…but it will do."

He walked up to Hartford, and prepared to drive the spear through the crown of his skull at an angle. After a few moments of careful planning, he stood silently, thinking of his predicament.

After nearly a minute of inaction, he sighed deeply and began lowering the spear. "What are you doing?!" Flurious shouted.

"I don't like this…just a quick death blow while he's held down like this…" Mack replied. "I'd be more than happy to do this, but not like this…"

"Now you're just being difficult!" Flurious shouted.

"You want me to kill him, and this is what I want. I want to chase him down and kill him; it's the most civil way. Like this…it's a boring, meaningless execution. I want to make a little sport out of it." Mack grinned.

Flurious huffed. "Fine, you can have it your way." The Chillers let Hartford get to his feet.

"There is an empty chamber down the back corridor. Go fight in there." He sent them to the empty chamber to fight. "Chillers…kill whichever one survives." Flurious commented. The Chillers verbally agreed and bowed, then ran out.

As they arrived, Hartford looked at Mack, who shared the glare. "We honestly don't have to do this."

A sudden and fleeting look of remorse crossed Mack's face as he picked up the spear and thrust it forwards. Hartford moved just in time to avoid getting impaled through the forehead. "I guess we do…" Hartford replied sadly as he dodged another thrust.

Back in San Angeles…

Tyzonn prepared to leave the Flashpoint Megazord and join his friends until he heard a sickening grinding of metal ahead of him. Everyone looked ahead to see that the machine was not done with them yet.

Flurious watched on in his cave. "…What's happened to my beautiful machine? That crystal's completely ruined it!" He thought for a few moments. "Do parts of the Jewel's human armor have the power to regenerate…?" He wondered aloud.

The hybrid mecha shrieked in a sharp metallic tone. "Okay, I'll hit it again with the Hydro Cannons!" Tyzonn proclaimed to his teammates, starting up the process again.

The hybrid mecha laughed softly as it pushed its face mask upwards, revealing a blank face with a giant hole where the mouth would be. "What's it doing?" Will asked.

"Oh man…every time the bad guy removes his mask in a movie, he like, shoots flames outta his mouth or something like Godzilla!" Dax panicked.

"Well then, Tyzonn'll extinguish him!" Ronny enthusiastically pointed out.

"…Still, he'd better hurry up with that cannon!" Dax replied.

The machine breathed in and exhaled, shooting a thick blood red mist into the air, dropping visibility heavily and choking out ventilation systems.

"Watch out, Tyzonn!" Ronny shouted.

"Don't breathe it in!" Rose added.

"My Tracker's going crazy…the mist must be a gas-like form of the Jewel material that the rest of the robot seems to be filled with…" Will commented.

The mecha laughed as the Flashpoint Megazord began to malfunction upon coming in contact with the gas. The cockpit, along with most of the rest of the megazord, began to spark up. "Ah! I'm losing power!" Tyzonn shouted, shielding himself from the sparks.

"Tyzonn! Get out of there!" Ronny shouted.

"My cannons are still functioning…I'm gonna give it one last shot!" Tyzonn replied, shifting the rest of the megazord's power to the cannons.

"Hmmm…I didn't build the machine to do that…but it is a nice touch." Flurious muttered to himself. "I wonder just how it's doing all of this…could it be trying to take over my robot?"

"Okay, here we go…firing cannons!" Tyzonn hit the button and prepared for the recoil without the shock absorbers. To everyone's shock, the machine's right arm flew through the haze, its long, blood-red fingertips jamming into the ends of the hydro cannons.

"Oh no! It's jammed the nozzles!" Tyzonn shouted.

"Unbelievable!" Rose shouted.

"Tyzonn, get out! It's gonna blow!" Ronny shouted.

"It's gonna blow its hand off…what kind of thing does that?" Dax asked.

The hybrid looked down into the cockpit and laughed. "I…am…Bardiel…and you…are…finished…"

Tyzonn was stunned for a moment by the machine's ability to speak, but was quickly jarred out of his awe by his megazord's pipes slowly bursting as they fired. "Ah! Gotta bail!" He leaped from the cockpit and landed nearby the other rangers.

A powerful explosion shot through the air, shattered metal and Jewel fragments the size of minivans showered down upon San Angeles' bay, mixed in a chaotic swirl of liquid vapor Jewel clumps cemented together by streams of pressurized water from the hydro cannons. The Rangers ran and dodged around the shattered debris and watched in horror as the destroyed Flashpoint Megazord lifelessly crashed to the ground.

"We have to call the Battlefleet!" Ronny shouted, reaching for her Tracker.

"No! That…Bardiel…it'll just destroy the Battlefleet too! We have to retreat; it's just too strong!" Rose said, grabbing Ronny's hand.

"She's right, Ronny. We have to regroup." Tyzonn added.

"I don't like it, but it's our only choice. We have to come up with a way to defeat it."

"Fine…" Ronny replied, sounding defeated as the Rangers made their way back to the mansion.

Back at the ice floe…

Mack once again thrust the spear towards Hartford, and Hartford only managed to dodge the blow with a last-second sidestep. "Stop dancing around, Andrew!" Mack shouted.

"I won't let you kill me, Mack. My blood doesn't need to be on your hands!" Hartford shouted, grabbing the spear as Mack swung at him.

"How can you stand there and choose my life for me? Haven't you done that enough?" He spun about and tightly gripped the spear, causing Hartford to lose his footing and let go of the spear, sending him flying to the other side of the room and roll across the floor.

A sudden shift in his right pocket upon impact surprised Hartford; he had no clue what it was. He reached in with his left hand and his eyes widened at what he discovered.

Was he somehow graced with dumb luck, or was it fate? The only thing that could possibly save his life had been lodged in his pocket the entire time, going unnoticed by every Chiller who handled him, along with Flurious and Mack themselves.

He slowly got to one knee and removed Mack's Tracker from his pocket and opened it as Mack charged at him. He set the black wheel against the floor below him and swallowed hard before rolling it in a semicircle arc in front of him. "Overdrive, Accelerate!"

Hartford's body became engulfed in a bright red light that did not deter Mack as he continued to charge him. Suddenly, an arc of light shot up to meet the tip of his spear, fixing the spear in place and effectively stopping Mack's stride.

The light faded, revealing Hartford in the Red Ranger suit, Drive Lance in hand, the prongs tightly wrapped around the end of the ice spear. He opened the lance up, forcing the retracted blade upwards and severed the end of Mack's ice spear clean off.

"I really don't want to fight you, but if you refuse to listen to me, I will." Hartford said, his voice shaking in a mix of fear and determination.


	9. Chapter Eight: A Knightly Intervention

Rose poured over her mythology books, looking more and more annoyed. "I can't find anything on the name 'Bardiel' in these books! The only thing I can find is some angel mythology book mentioning a 'Bardiel' being the Angel of Haze…"

"Well, it explains the Jewel vapor it spewed all over us." Will replied.

"Maybe the name isn't important. Maybe it's just a name it heard and repeated." Tyzonn commented cautiously.

"How would a machine know that, anyways? Flurious couldn't have known that either! …Would Mack know that? I don't think they had angels during his time…I don't think Christianity was around during his time…ugh!" Rose slammed the book shut. "That still doesn't explain why this thing just handed us our butts repeatedly! How could it possibly know everything about us?"

"We have to find out its weakness…maybe Mack knows what it is!" Ronny enthusiastically chimed in.

"Yeah, let's just call him and see what he knows." Will sarcastically replied.

"Shut up, Will." Ronny snipped.

"He's kidnapped Mr. Hartford, and he's done everything he could do to evade us. He wouldn't help us, even if we begged him."

"Mack doesn't remember us! He doesn't remember that we're his friends. We have to prove it to him, that's all!" Ronny said, sounding mildly delirious.

"Right now, we all need to calm down and think of some way to deal with this…'Bardiel'…thing." Rose said sternly.

"Has anyone seen Dax?" Tyzonn asked. "People are just disappearing left and right around here…"

Elsewhere…

Mack took several steps back in shock of Hartford's sudden and amazing set of moves. He placed the broken tip of his spear against the ground and rolled it between the sole of his shoe and the floor, cracking it back to a point.

"I really don't wish to fight you, Mack. You're my son, and I love you too much to want to hurt you. But that won't stop me from defending myself against you." Hartford said, standing up slowly while keeping the blade of his Drive Lance focused on Mack's ice spear.

Mack lifted the freshly reformed ice spear back up, and Hartford quickly swung his lance like a golf club, severing the brand new point away just as quickly as it was fashioned.

"Do you think you're clever?" Mack asked, refashioning the spear tip again. "I'll just keep on doing this, just to spite you."

"Then you're going to be left unarmed before we do any actual fighting." Hartford replied.

Mack sneered and took a step back, suddenly realizing his own secret weapon as he felt the cold drip trickle down his arm. He grinned and rolled up his sleeve, revealing the red-soaked bandage. He untied it and peeled it away, cracking open the partially healed wound and letting the red liquid crystal drain out, going down his arm and to the spear, where it began to cool and harden like magma.

The end of the spear collected up what didn't harden, and Mack attacked with it, swinging the spear around and splashing it about, melting the ice it touched and damaging the Drive Lance and the red Overdrive suit itself with the energy Mack had focused into it. Hartford began clawing off the hardening crystal, taking damage to his hands as he did so.

"That was a reckless move! You're killing yourself!" Hartford shouted as Mack slowly re-wrapped the wound.

"I will finish what I started. I can heal my injuries as fast as I need to later." Mack replied, letting the liquid crystal fully harden and reinforce the spear before continuing. "Besides, I'm not human, remember? I can't die."

"Just because you hate me-" Hartford dodged a jab at his head, and then another. "does not mean you should hurt yourself trying to kill me."

"My pain is nothing. I'll take all the pain I can handle to get rid of you. The universe isn't safe with people like you in it." A glowing light shined through Mack's pocket; the Lucky Pearl and Torhu Diamond began to react, running their energy through Mack's body. His irises turned blood red as the Garnet Sun itself reacted to its kin. The energy shot through his left arm and down through the spear, illuminating the garnet veins and further melting the ice underneath.

Mack swung the spear, releasing the massive amount of energy in a blood-red arc of light, slamming into Hartford and flinging him into the back wall. The sudden rush of such an attack left Mack feeling mild vertigo, and he slammed the spear on the ground and leaned his weight on it to prevent collapsing to the ground.

Back at the Command Center…

As if Tyzonn's comment had summoned him, Dax slid down the fire pole, a small book in hand. "Hey guys! I think I found out what 'Bardiel' is!"

"You did?" Rose asked, completely blown away by Dax's discovery.

He held up the book in his hand; a small manga, the word "Evangelion" prominently displayed. "I recognized the word because I just finished reading this. Bardiel is the bad guy of this book."

"Where'd you get that?" Ronny asked.

"I do recall that belonging to Master Mack at some point." Spencer commented.

"Mack and I have been doing trade-offs once every other week; I give him old scripts for movies I've been in and tried out for or a comic book he's missing from his collection, and he gives me one of his adventure novels or one of these manga. We've been doing it for months. He's really interested in finding new reading material, and so am I, so I thought it was a great idea if we swapped our stuff." Dax grinned cheesily. "This week, I gave him the script from 'Ninja Rhumba', and I even acted out the lines I had; he thought I would've stolen the movie if I stuck with it."

"Let's get to the more important thing at hand; did this 'Bardiel' guy have any weaknesses that we could try to exploit?" Rose asked.

"Well, the thing was torn apart viciously, and there was blood everywhere…it was pretty gruesome." Dax said. "Well, I think maybe…it called itself Bardiel because in the book, Bardiel was a parasite that invaded a giant robot that was a part of its enemy's army of giant robots, and it only got destroyed when the good guys decided to give it no mercy, even when one of their own robot pilots was still inside the giant robot. So the thing was torn to pieces, and the guy inside was killed, and it was a really awesome fight."

"I'll remind myself that if Master Mack wants any more of those books, to not get any." Spencer noted. "They sound awfully disturbing."

"Are you kidding? This is the most exciting book he's given me!" Dax replied.

"So maybe that was its way of saying…we're holding back?" Ronny asked.

"But how could we defeat it? I mean, no matter how far away from it we are, it just tore us to shreds!" Tyzonn commented.

Spencer sat in the chair and thought. "If memory serves me right, that book has not been around here long…"

Rose looked at the book itself. "You're right, this's in mint condition…and it looks fairly new. The price tag is still stuck to the back of it…and if I'm right, this price is the one that was set fairly recently for the manga from this store…" The group gave her an odd look. "…What? I read Ai Yori Aoshi when we're in the S.H.A.R.C."

"So why would the Bardiel robot know about something recent Mack's done, if he himself obviously doesn't remember it?" Will asked.

"Maybe that's not the only thing it knows…maybe that's why it's been trashing us!" Rose piped up.

"All this time…we've been fighting Mack…" Ronny spoke with a breaking voice. "…but why would he fight us if he has all his memories…?"

"It's not Mack. It's just a collection of memories that belong to him." Rose commented.

"Mack wouldn't willingly fight us if he knew we were his friends, Ronny. You know that." Tyzonn added.

"Right now, we just need to think of how to defeat it." Rose stated.

"We could just use the Battlefleet; I mean, you guys have only used it once before, right?" Tyzonn asked.

"Yeah. There's no way Mack could've memorized exactly how everything works in there with only one go." Dax commented.

"To the Battlefleet we go!" Tyzonn cheerily proclaimed.

As the others left, Ronny grabbed Rose's shoulder and smiled. "We shouldn't have used the Battlefleet, huh?" She jabbed at Rose, winking.

"Well, you can't just rush into things without knowing for certain that it's the right thing…especially when we've lost two megazords already." Rose replied.

"But we've let the hunk of tin sit in the sun too long and now it's probably back to full power. If you'd let us get the Battlefleet, we coulda crushed it by now."

"…I guess you're right." Rose frowned.

"Hey, don't frown! We're gonna vaporize him anyways!"

"…Right." Rose smiled weakly as Ronny ran towards the Battlefleet's docking bay.

"We'll be right back, Spencer…" Rose said, turning around.

"I know you will, Miss Rose."

"…Are Mack and Mr. Hartford okay?" She asked in a worried tone.

"The Sentinel Knight is on his way to find them. I believe that he will find them both in good time…however, I cannot guarantee that, in Flurious's domain, that either of them are safe." Rose silently nodded in painful acknowledgement as she slowly made her way to the Battlefleet.

Meanwhile, Flurious watched in curiosity as his giant robot's red crystal core rapidly regenerated, despite the lack of sunlight still left in the sky. "I've created a monstrous masterpiece!"

The blown-off segments of its arm and hands completely grew back, the metal chassis replaced with blood-red crystal; the minor damage to its face was repaired and the metal was transfigured and bent by the crystal as if guided by some unseen hand, making it look less like a soulless automaton and more like a lifelike entity.

"Is that…the Corona Aurora?" Flurious blinked, staring at the formation of protruding crystal lining its forehead. The formation looked amazingly like a red crystalline version of the Corona Aurora, down to the five placeholders for the Jewels themselves.

All he heard behind him was one step, and he turned around to watch the roped-up kunai shoot around him, wrapping him up from his neck to his shoulders.

Miratrix sneered. "Where is Kamdor?"

"I don't know!" Flurious squeaked.

"I know he came here looking for the Red Ranger. What did you do with him?" She demanded, tugging on the kunai's cord.

"Why would…I tell you?"

"Because I could kill you if I tug hard enough at the right angle." She replied.

"Fair enough…" Flurious replied. "There is a cave quite a ways off…I had the Chillers dump him there."

"Is he alive?" Miratrix demanded to know.

"Well, the Red Ranger…didn't send him flying hard enough…to kill him, I think…" The tighter she pulled, the harder it was for him to speak.

"The Red Ranger attacked him? Not you?" Miratrix was confused.

"He tried to capture…the Red Ranger…and he attacked him and…knocked him out…"

"Oh." Miratrix replied. She mentally noted that Mack was, in fact, fighting against everyone, and didn't care who was in his way. She admired his bravery, even if it was currently mixed with stupidity and fear.

She yanked back hard on the cord, pulling Flurious over the throne itself and sending him crashing to the floor. "You've been very helpful, so I'll let you live…for now." She ninja strafed up to a jutting out platform in the rafters, sending Flurious up with her. As he hung in the air for the split second that kinetic energy finally gave out, Miratrix smiled and ninja strafed back down to the floor, dragging Flurious down with her and slamming him into the floor in front of her, knocking him unconscious and putting a dent in the floor.

Meanwhile…

Hartford struggled to push himself out of the puddle of formerly frozen ice. The blow had been immense and had shot through his suit and coursed through every inch of his body, leaving him feeling burned from the inside out.

"Have to…keep going…" He murmured to himself as he looked up at the wincing Mack. "Have to…save him from himself…" He reached for the Drive Lance and looked down, wincing as his fingers wrapped around the lance's hand grip. He fully understood why the Garnet Sun had been considered a powerful and devastating weapon now.

Mack rose to his feet and marched over to Hartford, slamming the tip of the spear against the top of Hartford's head, cracking the helmet mildly and knocking him back to the ground. "Get up!" Mack shouted, looking shaken.

Hartford went against his screaming survivalist instinct and stayed down. "If you're going to kill me, do it." He replied in a weak, shrunken tone.

Mack stopped pressing against his helmet. "You're just…giving up?"

"This is what you want, isn't it? To just finish me off? I'm too weak to get back up…just do it."

Mack shrugged and placed the tip of his spear dead center in the middle of his forehead.

Mack punctured the helmet, spitting sparks around the hole. He pressed harder, cutting through skin and drawing blood, getting pained wincing out of Hartford. All of a sudden, after poking through several layers of skin, his arms locked up of their own volition and refused to budge.

Mack's eyes widened in shock at this sudden sort of betrayal. He tried to force the spear down, left, right, but they would not budge for any direction but up. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes as he tried to plead with his arms to finish the job.

He screamed and yanked the spear out, then kicked at the open hole, smashing out the helmet's headlights and cracking the visor as Hartford's head snapped back before slamming back down in the water.

Hartford saw his only chance to try and take Mack down, and he grabbed Mack's ankle and pulled back, sending the crazed young man dropping onto his back with a sickening crack. Mack's body seemed to become lifeless for a few moments after impact, a sickly moan rising from him as his body twitched back to life. Hartford sat up and watched Mack rise from the floor, as if possessed, and move swiftly in his direction.

Hartford quickly clawed his way towards the Drive Lance, but as soon as he got to it, Mack drove his heel into the top of his hand, trying to crush it. Hartford's hand jolted open in agony, and he tried not to scream.

"Not this time." Mack coldly commented, kicking the Drive Lance far off into a distant corner. Hartford pulled his left hand back and coddled it for the brief moments before Mack's hands dove at and ensnared his throat.

"It's not fair that you're wearing a helmet…" Mack said, taking his right hand and yanked at the hole he had created, causing sparks to fly as he tore half the left side of the helmet off, visor and all. Hartford winced as he tried to get Mack's vicegripped left hand off of him.

Mack pinned his chest against the wall with his knee and let go of his throat to continue yanking the helmet off until there was little left of the front to keep the back on. "There, now I can see you suffer." Mack smiled.

Hartford grabbed his wrists and gave the most concerned look he could. "Mack, please stop. I know you can't do this, because you're a truly kind-hearted person. You don't want to hurt anyone, even someone like me. Please, you're only hurting yourself by keeping this up…I can't stand to have to watch this happen to you…" Hartford's eyes watered up as he set Mack's arms at his sides.

Mack looked down, then clamped his hands around Hartford's wrists, as if trying to crush them. "This is Flurious's desire. This is my desire. I will accomplish it."

"This isn't your desire! This's only Flurious's desire!"

"Yeah, well…things have changed. I can't help but agree with him on this…"

Hartford glared and pushed his arms forwards, punching Mack in the gut and planting him on his posterior while pulling Hartford forwards, face-first on the ice. Mack growled and got up, pulling Hartford to his feet and tossing him into a wall before he could catch his balance.

Hartford winced as his helmetless head smacked the thick ice and the vibrations pulsed through his head. He slid down the wall and curled up in a ball, clinging to his temples to stop the pain as Mack walked over and grabbed his spear.

Back in San Angeles, the Battlefleet Megazord transformed into its warrior mode after successfully pulling up behind Bardiel from the ocean and stunning it with lasers.

"Ha! We really are overwhelming Bardiel!" Rose started with glee.

"Let's not cheer yet." Will commented.

"Indeed. It's still standing." Tyzonn added. "Okay, basic fighting mode. I'm ready to give it a go."

"Just follow my lead, Tyzonn." Ronny said happily.

Before it could turn around, the Battlefleet Megazord slammed its roller fist into Bardiel's back, knocking it off balance and sending it crashing to the ground.

Bardiel rolled to its back and fired off a massive blast of solar energy, which was almost fully blocked by turning on one of the fist's rotary device normally only used for its final attack and forcing it in front of the beam, sending the shot off into the wide open bay.

"That shot still damaged our left fist, guys. We can't do that again with the same fist." Rose said, checking the diagnostics quickly. "Now, a quick evasive maneuver while we still have the chance!"

Both hands clamped against Bardiel's left arm and picked it up, tossing it into the ocean. Bardiel rose, its crystalline body parts glowing blood red with energy and growling, as if trying to show anger.

"Oh look at that, somebody's a little steamed about getting beat up!" Dax mocked jokingly, pointing out that the glowing crystal parts were creating steam from the intense heat they were throwing off.

Before the rest of the group could laugh, Bardiel leaped high into the air. "Dammit, where'd he go?!" Ronny shouted, turning on the external scanners. Before the scanner could detect it, Bardiel landed behind them and tore into its right shoulder, severing the motor and rendering the arm useless.

"Our right arm's useless now!" Ronny shouted.

"We'd better hope it doesn't decide to shoot at us again with that solar laser!" Dax replied.

"Shut up, Dax! Don't give it any ideas!" Ronny scolded.

Bardiel laughed and kicked the megazord to the ground. "Why do you…continue this meaningless fight?"

Ronny growled as they slowly got the Battlefleet to its feet. She then unbuckled herself. "Don't you dare move this zord." She ordered as she left her zord and climbed to the top of the Battlefleet.

"What're you doing?" Rose shouted.

"Ronny, get back here!" Will ordered.

"Are you nuts?" Dax asked.

"Get back in here before it crushes you!" Tyzonn shouted in a worried tone.

Bardiel cocked its head in confusion. "You dare confront me…alone atop your metal machine?" It asked Ronny as it leaned in to properly stand eye-to eye with her.

She powered down and stared directly between its eyes. "I just want an answer to my questions." Bardiel stood, waiting for her question. "Do you remember everything that Mack should remember? Do you remember all of us, your friends?"

"Vaguely. My memories are…clouded…but I remember what is…important. Why…do you ask?"

"How could you attack us? If you know we're your friends, you couldn't possibly want to hurt us!" Ronny replied, feeling hurt.

Bardiel seemed to laugh. "Because I do not care…about you humans. You humans want nothing…from us but to…use us as slaves…as pets…to own us. You humans do not…deserve life."

"You don't need to protect the Jewels! We're here, and you know the Sentinel Knight is, too! Why don't you stop this madness?"

"Trust avaricious humans…with my safety? Trust a failed guardian…with my safety? I could protect myself on my own much better than they! Humans have not changed at all over the millennia…always wanting more than they have…nothing that craves power should ever protect the ultimate source of it."

"Fine." Ronny coldly replied. She remorphed then made her way back inside the cockpit. She rebuckled her seatbelt and clamped her hands around her steering wheel. She squeezed so hard, the others worried that she might pull the sections she was holding onto straight off. "Let's go." She said as she began using the emergency rerouter to temporarily restore mobility to the right arm.

Meanwhile, Mack charged at Hartford, the spear aimed at his head. A last-second shimmy to the right left Hartford with a minor cut across his left cheek which burned from the energy radiating from the spear fragments left behind. He slunk down as Mack aimed for the top of his head, then rolled to the left as he dodged a blow to his arm. Hartford leg swept Mack and dropped him on his rear end once again, giving him precious seconds to make a break for the Drive Lance.

The Lucky Pearl and Torhu Diamond once again aligned with Mack, and he once again began to force his energy through the garnet plating in the spear. Hartford noticed the energy surge and dove for the Drive Lance, retrieving it in time to crouch and guard his head with the lance and its full weapon mode.

Mack pointed the spear straight ahead, and the blast fired out as a wide beam of blood-red light which smashed into the top of the Drive Lance. The blade in the center took the brunt of the blast, bending and softening under the intense heat until it was bent off entirely and sent flying. The rest of the lance, which was built to withstand immense heat, only seemed to be welded in place by the blast.

Hartford's arms, from his fingers to his elbows, screamed in shock as the blast's heat began to travel from the lance's tip down to its counterweight. He tried his hardest to ignore it as he tried to maneuver away from the blast; he knew one false move, and his face would be melted away.

One final pulse of energy surged through Mack, and Hartford timed his swing with its arrival, knocking the blast past his left side, turning the ice into a large puddle as Mack fell to his knees once more.

The adrenaline running through Hartford's veins numbed his arms as he planned his next move. The lance's grips were welded in place and he lost the blade, so he could no longer hack through Mack's ice spear, and what he was left with was a steaming hot staff and a pair of wide clamps. An idea struck him and he grinned, then charged at Mack, the clamp end aimed at his throat.

Hartford slid the clamps around his throat and lifted him off the ground, causing Mack to drop his spear and break it. He was surprised to find that Mack was lighter than he looked, and he quickly used less effort to lift him than he thought he needed to avoid flinging the poor boy over his shoulder.

Mack looked terrified as he began clawing at the clamps as Hartford continued running towards the wall in front of him. "I've tried to be calm and gentle with you, but you obviously aren't going to listen to me unless I use force, so I'm just going to be flat out brutally honest with you." He slammed Mack up against the wall, stunning him again as it had before. He slid Mack down to eye level, the young man's legs bending with ease as if he were a sort of marionette.

"Flurious will not let you stop with just me. You kill me, he will just claim his true desire was to destroy Moltor, then Kamdor and Miratrix, then the Fearcats, then anything else he sees as a threat. He will not stop until you do all of his dirty work for him, until you've handed all of the Jewels of the Corona and the crown itself to him."

"I would never agree to that! I would just as soon leave than hand my kin to him!"

"He wouldn't let you live to betray him, Mack. I can guarantee you that he's made plans to destroy both of us already. This whole fight is just a big win-win for him. Can't you see that?"

"I know who he is, but he wouldn't dare! I would melt him to his own throne before he had the chance!"

"And waste the rest of your strength? I can't let you go on like this, and I'm doing this for your own good. I'm putting my foot down, as your parental guardian, whether you like it or-"

A group of heavy footsteps rolled in, belonging to a small group of Chillers. The surprise entrance startled Hartford long enough to give them a chance to fire blasts of explosive clay at him, shooting straight through the weakened Drive Lance, as well as knocking Hartford on his side.

Mack, who had slowly been loosening up the clamps, finally snapped them open as he fell to the floor. He smiled at them, then slowly got up, tossing the clamp away.

Hartford slowly picked himself up and panicked as he watched the Chillers prepare to attack Mack. "Mack!" He shouted, getting to his feet.

The Chillers quickly fired upon the unknowing Mack, slamming him in the chest and knocking him off his feet. Hartford ran up behind him just in time to catch him before he landed on his back again. They fired a third time, and Hartford braced himself as he turned his back to them, taking the brunt of the blast and getting knocked to the ground, taking Mack with him.

Hartford's arms slowly pulled away from Mack as he slowly tried to recover from the last barrage of blows. Mack looked back towards him. "Are you stupid? Why did you do that?"

"You wouldn't have survived the last attack. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do something…" Hartford replied weakly, his body craving the soothing numbness of the cold floor beneath him. His arms shook internally, crying out for comfort.

"Yeah well, now we're both dead."

"Well, Flurious's going to get his wish after all. He'll have you without rebellion, and he'll have me dead." Hartford softly smiled. "At least I got to spend my last moments here with you."

Mack rolled on his back and looked over at Hartford, who had closed his eyes and partially curled up in a ball against the icy floor. The sense of dread which had steadily tried to consume him moments before slowly crept away as a minor wave of remorse replaced it. He sighed and wrapped his arms around his stomach lightly, closing his eyes as well, hoping that he went first.

"I'll tell the gods when I see them that you're brave," Mack muttered just loud enough for Hartford to hear. "you're belligerent, incompetent, immoral, and perhaps insane, but very brave."

Back in San Angeles…

Ronny managed to shift a normally extraneous gear's motor in the Battlefleet's right shoulder to power the damaged right arm. She then shifted all controls to her console.

"Ronny, what are you doing?" Rose demanded.

"You were right. This isn't Mack at all." She felt mindless to not notice it before. "And if it's not Mack," She slammed the Battlefleet's right fist into Bardiel's stomach before it could react. "then I won't hold back." It went to catch her next blow, but she quickly turned on the roller, which crushed some of its fingers and most of its palm.

She then grabbed Bardiel's arm and tossed Bardiel into the bay. "I don't care if Mack never remembers us," She clocked Bardiel in the face with a rolling right hook. "but I won't let this thing destroy humanity!" She then activated the finisher.

Both roller fists spun at maximum speed, both slamming into the red dome on its chest, shattering it and severely damaging its torso. She didn't stop as it hit the water; she powered up both fists at once and drove them into Bardiel's body, driving it deep into the ground beneath the water. The extraneous motor burnt out, once again severing the mobility of the Battlefleet's right arm.

"We're done here." Ronny stated, breathing heavily from the declining high. "Let's go."

"Well, looks like we've destroyed it, Spencer." Will called in. "We're returning to the base."

"I'll be waiting with glasses of lemonade to celebrate." Spencer replied.

"I don't feel much like celebrating…" Ronny muttered as she curled up in her seat.

Back in the ice cave, Mack breathed softly, slowly tuning in to a warm sensation coming from nearby. A familiar aura filled the room, and he slowly opened his eyes.

A pair of heavy boots clanked in, startling the Chillers. "Stop right there!" The Sentinel Knight shouted. "Get away from them!"

Mack's eyes opened wide at the sound, and he slowly pulled himself up in time to watch the Sentinel Knight triple kick the group of Chillers into an icy puddle of clay. Mack breathed heavily as he stared at Sentinel Knight; a hazy memory of a time long ago, the being standing before him looking mildly different than before, but sounding exactly the same.

He seemed to be a godsend, literally.

"Mack, are you alright?" Sentinel Knnight asked as he kneeled down in front of Mack. Tears flooded Mack's eyes as he tightly wrapped his arms around Sentinel Knight. "I suppose it would be better to ask you later."

"I thought I would never see you again, Sentinel Knight…" Mack choked out, the tears streaming down his face. "I thought I would be without your protection on this planet…"

"But you have Andrew Hartford and your fellow Rangers to protect you from harm."

Mack looked up at Sentinel Knight. "…Him?" He asked in a surprised tone, gesturing towards Hartford's still form.

"Yes, him. I have entrusted him with the task of seeking out the Jewels of the Corona, for I know him to be trustworthy and dedicated to the preservation of the Corona and all of its Jewels, especially you." Mack gave him a look. "Now I know the reasons behind your hatred, and I have heard what he did to you, and while what he did was immoral, I understand his reasons for it. He wanted you to be safe from harm, and erasing your memories of being a Jewel of the Corona Aurora might have been the best thing he could have done for you. You give yourself up too easy to whomever controls you, and what has happened today has terrified me."

Mack clung tightly to Sentinel Knight. "I do it because it is my sole purpose, to grant the wish of whomever possesses me. Isn't that it?"

"Your sole purpose was to be a keeper of limitless power. It was never to be a servant to anyone."

"…Was?" Mack sounded confused.

"Your purpose now…perhaps is less clear. I'm sure the answer will come to you." Sentinel Knight softly tried to comfort the miserable, clingy young man, unsure of how to do so.

Mack began to cry as the thought struck him. "All along…the humans were trying to protect me…I've put them through so much misery…"

"The humans understand, I assure you. They want nothing more than your safety."

"I've caused such a mess…so much trouble…" His sobbing slowed down as a weak pulse of energy traveled through his body from the Garnet Sun itself, slowing down his movements until he gradually stopped sobbing and eventually stopped moving, falling into a deep sleep.

Sentinel Knight sighed deeply and lied the young man down gently, then quickly got over to Hartford, who also seemed to be sleeping. "Andrew?" He said, weakly jostling him.

Hartford's eyes fluttered open. "Huh? What?" He then saw that the Sentinel Knight was staring at his face. "Oh…thank god you're here." He smiled weakly, then looked behind him at Mack. "Is he okay?"

"I think you'll both be fine after a long rest. I need to get in contact with Spencer to see if everything is alright with them."

"The Tracker should still be on my belt…" Hartford mumbled, trying to move his arm to point to it, but failing and wincing from the pain.

"Right."

Back at the mansion, the Rangers returned celebrating. Even Ronny, who seemed mildly upset before, joined in with the excitement.

"Are you going to be okay, Ronny?" Tyzonn asked as he pulled her aside. "I don't like it when any of my teammates are miserable, especially you."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just…" She gave a worried look. "I just couldn't help but wonder of what Bardiel said about all of us is how Mack really feels about us and the whole human race; that we're just greedy creatures."

"Mack isn't that kind of person, Ronny. Mack is a good person at heart, even if he might see some people that way, there's no way he'd be so generalizing like that." Tyzonn replied, giving her a comforting look as he sat his hand on her shoulder. "Now, will you enjoy our victory with the rest of us?"

"Of course." Ronny hugged Tyzonn warmly and smiled.

Spencer hit the alert button, calling everyone downstairs. They arrived to the sight of Sentinel Knight's face up on the main screen.

"Well, look who it is!" Ronny said, smiling lightly.

"Hello Rangers. I am glad to see that you are all unharmed by the giant robot I heard about."

"We're okay." Rose replied. "Have you found Mr. Hartford and Mack yet?"

"They are here with me, but they are both in poor condition. I cannot return with them both on my own, so I will need a bit of assistance."

"I'll take the S.H.A.R.C." Ronny volunteered.

"I'll do it." Tyzonn jumped in. Ronny gave him a dirty look. "We need someone to be in charge of fixing the zords, since we're practically out of formations at the moment."

"Tyzonn's got a point." Will said. "You should go, and we'll help Ronny out."

"Alright. All I need is the coordinates." Tyzonn replied.

"I shall maintain my position for the moment and wait, then. Good luck with your repairs." Sentinel Knight then closed the connection out but left the Tracker active.

"Don't worry, Andrew. They're on their way. You're both going to be back on your feet in no time." Sentinel Knight commented calmly as he set the Tracker by Hartford's head.

For the first time that day, Andrew Hartford finally felt as if he could rest easy, and sleep was nothing more than closing his eyes and taking a deep, soothing breath.


	10. Chapter Nine: Our Fragile Sun

It wasn't long before Tyzonn arrived in the S.H.A.R.C. to pick up Andrew, Mack, and the Sentinel Knight. He walked into the enclosure and looked around, shocked by the lines of synthetic garnet splashed about in a violent fashion around three-quarters of the room. He looked over to see a groggy Andrew sitting up still in the helmetless Red Ranger suit, his arms twitching mildly as he tiredly looked up at Tyzonn. Right next to Andrew, the Sentinel Knight slowly picked Mack up off the floor and began carrying him as one would do for their child.

"Mr. Hartford…?" Tyzonn said slowly.

"I'm getting up, don't worry." He replied as he slowly got up. "I hope you have the heat on in the S.H.A.R.C. because I feel like an icicle."

"I'll put it on for you, Mr. Hartford." Tyzonn smiled as he led the trio out of the cave.

Hartford took the seat farthest back and quietly quaked from shock as he watched Tyzonn and Sentinel Knight gingerly strap Mack into a chair comfortably. He wasn't sure whether he should feel relieved that the nightmare was over and that Mack was safe, or angry and ashamed that he had to resort to brutality to get to this point. He decided, rather, to fall asleep in his seat and try to let the heat from the air vent above him warm him up.

It was the longest twenty minute flight any of them had experienced.

Tyzonn calmly woke Hartford up and helped him out of his chair as they arrived and walked upstairs into the mansion.

"I'll bring Mack up to his room." Sentinel Knight said.

"No, it'll be better if we leave him downstairs, in case something happens to him. Easy access to the injured is one of the key things for severe and possibly fatal injuries." Tyzonn spat out, sounding uncharacteristically like a textbook.

"Alright. You sound to be more knowledged in this than I am, so I will take your word for what it's worth." Sentinel Knight replied.

Spencer came out from Hartford's office with a feather duster in hand, apparently roused midway through a cleaning session. One glance at Hartford, who still had yet to exit the remains of the Red Ranger suit, and his eyes widened. "Sir…?" Spencer said.

"Spencer, we're going to need your assistance." Hartford replied.

"I'll go get the first aid set," Spencer promptly replied. "the big one."

"While you're at it, get Mack's kit, too."

Spencer gave a worried look to Hartford before he left.

The quartet settled in the living room; Hartford claimed a chair near the television, and Mack was lied on the couch straight, arms folded around his waist.

"What can we do for him?" Hartford commented.

"Well, not much. I've treated Mercurians and humans before, but not anyone like Mack. I can take a look at his injuries and see if I can fix him, but for now…" Tyzonn sighed. "I guess I can stop him from bleeding with tight wraps or tourniquets."

"Spencer and I have something that, in theory, should help. Luckily, or unluckily in this case, we've never had to use it before."

Tyzonn's eyes seemed fixated on Hartford's arms. "Are you cold?" He asked.

"No, why?"

"Your arms are shaking. Can I take a look?"

"Ugh sure…" Hartford looked puzzled. "I, ugh…don't know how to get outta this suit."

"Here, give me the Tracker." Hartford handed Mack's Tracker over to Tyzonn, who quickly configured it and demorphed him. He mildly jumped back at the sight of Hartford's hands, which were swollen, clammy looking, and beet red with blisters here and there.

"Oh, this's bad. Definitely mild second degree, maybe worse." Tyzonn commented, setting the Tracker down and delicately turning Hartford's hands at the wrist to fully examine them. He then slowly rolled up Hartford's sleeves, getting a wince and little whimper of pain from Hartford as he rolled the sleeves all the way up to mid-bicep, where Tyzonn assessed that the burns became negligible. "I'm surprised that you endured all of this. If my memory of burn care serves me right, I don't think the ice helped much either." Tyzonn frowned. "This needs a lot of time to heal, and I should be bringing you to the hospital."

"No, no hospital. I wanna stay here." Tyzonn frowned slightly at his response. "No, you can treat me here, can't you?"

"I'm trained as a basic field medic, not as a doctor. It's my personal opinion that you should go to a professional doctor, but if you insist on only being treated by me, then I won't push you to go."

Hartford sighed and looked down for a moment. "How would we explain this?" He asked in a quiet tone.

"Leave that to me, sir." Spencer replied as he walked in with both kits. "Oh dear, that does look very bad."

He looked up, feeling defeated. "Alright, fine. I just want to know how Mack is every once in a while."

"We'll call. Now, hold still so I can take care of that head injury." Tyzonn replied as he grabbed the basic first aid kit and began doing what he could for Hartford.

Rose peeked her head into the lounge after, quickly observing what she could, then quietly made her way downstairs into the zord bay. Dax, Will, and Ronny looked over at her as she dropped her invisibility.

"So, what's going on?" Will asked.

"Well, you want the good news or bad news first?"

"I don't want any bad news." Ronny replied.

"I wanna hear the good news first." Dax replied.

"Please, give some good news." Ronny added.

"Well, both Mr. Hartford and Mack are alive and in one piece." Rose smiled.

"And the bad news?"

Rose sighed. "Mr. Hartford is being taken to the hospital and Mack's been unconscious the entire time he's been here."

"Well, they're both going to recover, so it's all good." Dax smiled. Rose gave him a forlorn look and his smile faded. "…Right?"

Rose could not answer.

"Well, I think they'll be fine. Mack's not like us, he's like Bardiel. You saw how fast it regenerated, right? I think Mack'll be just fine."

Rose grinned. "I hope you're right, Dax."

"Alright. Enough yapping; this Sonic Streaker ain't gonna fix itself!" Ronny commanded, picking her wrench back up.

After a few minutes, Rose started laughing. Will looked over at her, giving a look that suggested that she should share her comedic thought. "I'm sorry," Rose replied, setting down her buffing cloth. "but seeing Mr. Hartford in the Red Ranger suit, without the helmet, is definitely the weirdest and funniest thing I've seen in a very long time."

The group's eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm guessing that he had Mack's Tracker with him, because when he arrived, he was in the suit without a helmet. I thought it was kinda funny."

"I would've loved to see that." Ronny replied.

"I bet he had fun." Will added.

"If I sat around all the time, then got the chance to finally get into the action, I'd be ecstatic!" Dax exclaimed, tossing his wrench arm up in the air, wrench and all.

"I wouldn't be too ecstatic, though, if it meant I'd have to fight Mack," Ronny added in a depressed tone. "or any of you guys, for that matter."

"Well, we couldn't make that choice now, could we have?" Rose replied. "We can't have our cake and eat it too."

"…Aw man, now I'm hungry for cake." Dax commented, holding his stomach. "Do you think Spencer's got any of that cheesecake left?" Will, Rose, and Ronny gave him criticizing looks. "…What? I haven't eaten all day! We've been on a wild goose chase all day, and I haven't even stopped to grab a Twinkie!"

"Well, we should pick up the pace then! We're almost done with the Streaker. We'll finish this, then go upstairs for something to gnaw on." Ronny replied.

"Fine." The quartet began putting the finishing touches on the Streaker.

After another ten minutes, the group made their way upstairs, content with their repairs. They slowly walked to the kitchen, but stopped as they saw movement coming from the lounge. Ronny was the first to react to the sight, but soon the whole quartet had gone pale and wide-eyed at the sight in the doorway.

Tyzonn began walking out of the lounge, oblivious to the presence of his teammates. He had discarded his jacket, and his teeshirt and bare arms were caked in Mack's blood, as well as little streaks on his face and in his hair and a dragged handprint down the side of his thigh. It looked downright morbid to the rest of the group, and Ronny gasped, catching Tyzonn's attention. He stopped in mid-step, feeling nervous, then he set his foot down slowly and spoke.

"Are you…done fixing the zords?" He asked, his voice wavering.

"We're taking a break." Rose replied, trying not to gag at the sight of him. She just reminded herself that everything was going to be fine.

"…Oh. Alright, I'll uh, join you in the kitchen after I clean up," He replied, weakly smiling. "wouldn't want to walk around with all this on me." He nervously let out a momentary laugh, then looked up at the stairs. "Just…don't go in there, okay?" They nodded in the affirmative. He then made his way up to his room.

Rose bit her lip, and Will put his arm around Ronny's shoulders as they continued their way to the kitchen.

Dax sat down and sighed. "I'm not very hungry anymore."

"I don't think I'll be eating for a week." Rose replied.

"I don't even remember what food is right now." Ronny added, letting her head hit the counter.

"Well, I'm hungry. What's cooking?" Will asked, walking over to the large pot.

"How can you think about eating right now?" Rose asked, sounding annoyed.

"Because I think Mack wouldn't want us to sit around and feel sorry for him, that's why." Will replied. "Yeah, he's messed up bad right now, but we can't just sit around waiting for him to get back up on his feet. We got work to do. We've got him here, as safe as he can be, so the job's done." He sniffed the contents of the pot as Rose stood up angrily.

"So you're just not gonna care if he's not okay?" She asked.

"Hey, I care about him. He's my bro. But right now, there's nothing more we can do for him. He's safe there in the lounge, all resting up, so I'm cool for now. Everybody needs to just chill and not worry about him right this minute. We're all hungry, so we should eat in peace and not worry about what's going on." He grabbed some bowls and a ladle, then proceeded to fill up the bowls with the contents of the pot. "Looks like some sort of pot roast…I hope it's good."

"I wonder if Mack's hungry…" Ronny thought aloud.

"He's fine." Will said, a hint of annoyance in his tone as he set the bowl down in front of her. "Get a spoon." He then sat the other bowls in front of everyone else, then sat down.

A few minutes later, Tyzonn arrived in a fresh uniform set, his hair still slightly wet from the shower. Will gestured over to the unclaimed bowl, and he smiled. "Thanks."

Tyzonn sat down and quickly inspected the contents, trying to identify what it was. "It's a pot roast, Ty. Eat it." Will grumbled.

"Oh, that's what it is. It looks different than last time." Tyzonn replied before digging in.

"Probably because it's usually served with everything separated." Rose replied.

"Oh." Tyzonn smiled. "It tastes a lot better than last time." He commented, pulling a large slice of carrot out with the spoon.

They finished their meal in silence, then decided upon playing a game of pool. Tyzonn chose to go spend time in the lounge with Mack and Sentinel Knight, to keep them company, so the match became a boys versus girls game.

Tyzonn looked over at Mack and Sentinel Knight as he made his way over to the television. Sentinel Knight stood guarding the couch, ever vigilant. He briefly looked over at Tyzonn, then returned to his statuesque pose. Mack was resting peacefully, and the dangling sleeve of Tyzonn's jacket, which he folded up and converted into a makeshift pillow for Mack, informed him that Mack had stirred lightly in his sleep. It gave Tyzonn a little comfort to know that Mack was 'sleeping' in a slightly more common fashion now, instead of lying motionless like a corpse.

Mack's 'specially made' bandages, which were once a dark red, were now a fading pink. "I guess Hartford and Spencer had the right idea," Tyzonn said to Sentinel Knight as he kneeled down and inspected Mack with the nimblest of actions. "because his body seems to be absorbing these minerals in the gauze, and he looks a lot healthier than he did earlier."

"I agree. The color has come back to his skin, and he is even been moving a bit." Sentinel Knight sounded a bit cheerful.

Mack moved around more underneath the blanket, his eyes slowly opening. Mack quickly looked at Tyzonn, then gave an inquisitive look to Sentinel Knight.

"Where am I?" Mack asked tiredly.

"You are in the Hartford Mansion." Mack's visage paled, a look of terror spreading across his face. He attempted to sit up, but Sentinel Knight promptly held him down. "You've been gravely injured, and the Rangers and I will make sure nothing disturbs you and your healing."

"Trust me, you may not want to be here, but it's the safest place to be when everyone's after you." Tyzonn replied, smiling weakly.

Mack looked up at him and looked him over. "Your eyes glisten like mercury…quite unnatural."

"Well, maybe for humans. Your eyes are looking quite red themselves."

"They are?" Mack asked, blinking. "Well, that explains my tinted vision, doesn't it?" He blinked several more times. "I'll keep that in mind in the list of things I need to fix." He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, taking to a more friendly sleeping position. "Tell me, mercury eyes, about yourself. Have we met before?"

Tyzonn couldn't help but find a slight bit of humor in the comment. "My name is Tyzonn, and I am from a planet called Mercuria. All of us there have 'mercury eyes', so I've not really noticed them myself."

"Oh? Another planet? Interesting."

"Indeed. And yes, we have met before. In fact, if it wasn't for you, I would still be a scaly, reptilian freak."

"Really? Like a naga, or like the Swamp Thing?"

"I'm not really sure…what's a 'naga' and what's a 'Swamp Thing'? I haven't fully gotten into human mythology yet."

Mack smiled weakly as he slowly began to ramble as he got back to sleep. "Well, a naga is a very ancient creature that I remember hearing stories about from Indian traders while we made our way to Bactria a long time ago…"

Meanwhile, in the zord bay…

The girls had won the match and won the right to fix the Flashpoint Megazord. However, they had run into problems.

"Ugh, we don't have enough steel tubing to rebuild the cannons on the Flashpoint." Ronny pouted, crossing her arms.

"You're kidding!" Rose replied in a surprised tone.

"Well, we need about twenty more yards for both the shoulder cannons to match the blueprints."

"Will it affect how the cannons work?"

"Well, if I am reading this right – and I think I am – the Flashpoint's shoulder cannons would lose up to 30 yards of range. But then again, I'm not a math major and I've never built a cannon."

"I'll look it over." Rose said, setting down her welding torch.

"Hey ladies!" Dax called out from his position on top of the Drivemax Ultrazord. "Do you have any spare metal tubing?"

"I was just about to ask you guys if you did," Ronny shouted back. "because we don't have enough for the cannons."

"Well, ours was just to make it look good." Will replied. "Is that the last thing for you guys?"

"Looks like it." Rose replied.

"Well, why don't we just call it a day and go play more pool?" Dax suggested.

"I guess that's all we can do." Rose sighed. "Alright, let's go."

Upstairs, the group could hear soft laughter coming from the living room, along with slightly louder banter coming from both familiar voices and a sports channel on the TV.

"Humans on Earth are completely strange. They spend their unique ability of sentient life on making and using things that're practically death traps for amusement. They might as well run at their proverbial mortal coils with chainsaws while they're at it!" Mack commented as the sounds of motorcross bikes roared from the widescreen across the room from him. "They don't need guns and bombs, just strap their soldiers to those howling machines of death and make them do a few laps around a racing track! You're almost guaranteed that you'd get ten deaths per lap."

"Wars would be a lot tolerable that way, though." Tyzonn countered.

"Ah, you're right. Never mind what I just said, then." Mack sighed. "Can I at least sit up now?"

"No." Tyzonn replied, changing the channel.

Mack groaned in boredom. "I feel like a quadriplegic."

"If you were human, you probably would be right now." Tyzonn jokingly replied. The quartet poked their heads in, catching Tyzonn's attention.

"Have you finished repairing at the zords?" Tyzonn asked. Mack tried looking up, but Tyzonn laid a hand on his chest. "It's the rest of the Rangers, Mack." He gestured for them to come in.

They shuffled in, and Mack's neck slowly creaked to the right and allowed him to see them.

"Hi Mack." Rose said with a smile.

"Welcome home." Ronny grinned and bounced on her feet a few times enthusiastically.

"How're ya feelin?" Will asked.

"Man, you look comfortable in that blanket." Dax commented.

"It's quite comfortable here, even if I'm not allowed to move." Mack replied. "I'm really numb, and I honestly don't wish to be here, but right now I can presume that I'm with the lesser evil."

"We're not evil at all," Ronny looked mildly offended by Mack's statement as Rose answered for her. "in fact, we're the good guys here."

"I suppose I will take your word for it for the time being." Mack weakly smiled.

Dax frowned. "So I guess you don't remember anything about us?"

"I know what Flurious said, and that's about it. That you, like everyone else, are after the Corona Aurora, and that I am your leader. Am I right?"

"Pretty much." Rose replied.

"But you're a lot more than that." Ronny replied. "You're our best friend."

"Right." Mack replied, unfazed by her comment.

Tyzonn got up and stood next to the group.

"I'll introduce you to the group. This's Rose Ortiz. She's our brains, and usually figures out where the Jewels of the Corona are." Rose smiled. "This's Ronny Robinson. She's our mechanic, and she usually keeps us all in line." Ronny gave a wide smile. "This's Will Aton. He's amazing at figuring out all sorts of ways to disable the traps protecting the Corona, and he's been our leader in our effort to find you." Will nodded. "And this's Dax Lo. He's our resident stuntman, and does a lot of groundwork. He's pretty good at fighting." Dax gave him a look. "What?"

"You forgot aspiring actor."

"You're right. Dax hopes to eventually become an actor after we've secured all the Jewels of the Corona, as well as the Corona itself."

"And what does that make me?" Mack asked. "Head cheerleader?"

"You're our leader!" Ronny replied. "You…lead us into battle!"

"You keep us going when we give up." Rose replied.

"You taught me a lot about teamwork." Will added.

"And you love to listen to my auditions!" Dax blurted out. The group looked at him. "What? I'm just…saying…ya know, he likes to listen. That makes him a good leader, right? Listening to other group members?"

"Well, listening to this has tired me out." Mack huffed, obviously irritated. "I'm going back to sleep."

The group seemed to get the point. "Well, we should leave you to rest. You've had a rough day, and you definitely need the rest. We were just gonna play some pool anyways." Will commented.

"Right. I'll be right here if you want to talk…as usual." Mack grumbled before he closed his eyes. The group then left, and Tyzonn turned the television off and followed them out.

Out on the ice floe, Flurious woke up to a miserable headache and the sound of a nagging voice. "Have a nice nap, brother?" Moltor chided.

"How dare you mock me!" Flurious shouted, getting up quickly and sneering at the screen.

"I don't see a Jewel of the Corona around there…did you have a case of the butterfingers again?" Moltor nearly doubled over with laughter.

"You will regret this, Moltor!" Steam nearly erupted from Flurious's ears as Moltor finally calmed down from his cheerful high.

"Ah, brother. Don't take me so seriously. I just had to say something after your great loss today."

"Well, what do you want?"

"I have a proposition."

"As do we." Flurious's eyes widened as Mig walked up in front of him and Benglo came up behind him.

"Well look what the penguins dragged in." Moltor grinned. "I don't suppose that we could have a temporary alliance, us four, for just a while?"

"What kind of plan do you have in mind?" Mig questioned. "I have quite the idea myself…"

Back at the mansion…

Mack's body could not rest easily, as he constantly woke up from the sounds of movement and pool balls being knocked around along with the casual conversing. He gritted his teeth as his inability to move on his own, cursing his foul luck.

"Is something the matter, Mack?" Sentinel Knight asked as he looked out the window. Night had fallen and the sky was crystal clear; one couldn't ask for better weather after such a hectic day.

"I can't sleep in here with all this noise." He replied.

"Would you like me to bring you up to your room?"

"No, outside. I want to sleep in the hammock."

"Out there? Wouldn't you be better off in here, where it's warm and where people can take care of you if you need them to?"

"No. I just want some peace and quiet. This comforter can keep me warm enough."

Sentinel Knight sighed. "As you wish."

He walked over and gingerly wrapped Mack up in the fluffy red comforter and carefully carried him outside to his hammock, making sure the warm blanket was completely enveloped around him.

"There, better now?"

Mack smiled as he curled up inside the blanket. "Much."

Sentinel Knight nodded. "I shall keep an eye on you, then. Rest well, Mack."

"You too."

Sentinel Knight walked about a hundred feet away, to give Mack his peace, then sat down and watched as the gentle breeze gingerly rocked the hammock from side to side.

Mack closed his eyes and slowly began focusing on the soft rocking, and a sound began rolling through his ears which seemed foreign in nature. It was soft as first, as if he had stuck a pair of conch shells over his ears, but the gentle rolling of water slowly grew louder.

The movement of the hammock swaying back and forth seemed to distort under him, acting more like rippling waves, and the smell of salt water filled his nose as he fell deeper into his sleeping cycle.

_Mack slowly opened his eyes and saw the starlit sky above him, far beyond any land to speak of. He felt as if he were standing upright against a wall slowly pushing him upwards, despite knowing he was floating atop a floor of water._

_Below him was not the ocean itself, but rather an amalgam of a solid object that mirrored his body structure. Beneath his right arm was something cold, segmented, and smooth, like a metal sort of armor. The same went for both of his legs and most of his back, where faint arcing lines of hot jagged lines seemed to form crack-like patterns from a point of impact between his shoulder blades. His left arm was completely warm from below, pressed up against the same sort of hot and jagged material that arced around his back._

"_Hello?" Mack called out. He got no response. He faced his left palm down in the water, and a similarly shaped appendage met his. His palm seemed to press against the same sort of material, which with his fingertips he could tell was not actually jagged as he had previously thought, but rather comprised of uneven fragments of crystal. The appendage's fingertips were long and pointed, like a claw of sorts._

"_What are you…?" Mack called out again, looking to the side. A faint reflection of gold as well as the sensation of cold metal around most of his face below the bridge of his nose gave the impression of a protective face mask. Although he couldn't see it, he could feel the top of his head rolling against the bottom of another strip of cold metal._

"_So dark…so cold…" Mack could hear a faint voice echo against the metal and the waves. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, is if from a memory. "So tired…we are…"_

"_Where are we?" Mack asked._

"_Can't see the bay…can't feel the sun…so cold…so dark…" The voice seemed delirious._

"_Well, can we rest here? Maybe, maybe if we're less tired, we can find out where you're trying to go, and maybe you'll warm up a bit."_

"_Wise thought…can you hold onto life for me?"_

_Mack felt suspicious. "Why? Who are you?"_

"_Cold…it's cold down here…"_

_Mack sighed, and worried his entire slumber session was going to be spent with the delirious thing below him holding him afloat in a body of water he couldn't navigate._

"_It's so hard to stay here…" The voice muttered._

_Mack sighed and closed his eyes, letting his thoughts become drowned out by the sounds of the waves._

Back in the mansion, Dax lined up his winning shot. "Eight ball, corner pocket." He grinned.

"Oh, just make the shot." Rose grimaced.

The alarm for an incoming message to the command center went off just as he began to make his shot, and he knocked the cue ball clear across the table, hitting Tyzonn in the head and nearly knocking him out.

"Aw crap! Sorry Ty." Dax helped him up. "Want an icepack?"

"No, I'm alright." Tyzonn replied, holding his head as he took Dax's hand.

As soon as everyone was downstairs, Rose answered the call. Spencer's face showed up on the main screen, a hospital room behind him.

"Good evening, Rangers. I see that you appear to be in good spirits." Spencer commented.

"Good evening, Spencer. How is Mr. Hartford?" Rose asked.

"The doctors say he'll recover just fine. He was awake until just a few moments ago. Only a stroke of irony would make it so he was asleep by the time I got a hold of you all. He's been begging for me to call and check up on Mack." Spencer smiled. "How is he, by the way?"

"He's doing great." Tyzonn replied. "I got him all wrapped up in the special gauze, and then we got a blanket out of the linen closet for him. He was awake earlier, and we had a long talk about a couple of things. He seems a little upset, though."

"He was really snippy with us while we were talking to him. I don't think he's too happy being here again." Rose replied.

"I wouldn't expect him to be for a while. For the time being, I suppose that you must try killing him with kindness while trying to jog his memory, assuming he hasn't remembered anything yet."

"No, not yet." Rose replied.

Will yawned. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to hit it."

"I'm feeling a bit tired too." Tyzonn replied.

"As am I. I shall call in the morning, then." Spencer smiled.

"Goodnight, Spencer." The group closed the connection as Spencer slowly turned off his, and they all weakly marched off to their rooms.

The night went on smoothly, and the group awoke to a quiet house. They slowly got up and congregated outside the living room. Rose took her normal speaking pose.

"Ronny, like your new bunny slippers." Dax commented, cutting off Rose. She looked over at him.

"Oh, you do? I love them. They have a nice faux fur lining on the inside, so they're extra comfy." She smiled. "Is that a new sleepshirt?"

"Nah, it's just a shirt I haven't worn yet. It doesn't have a faux fur lining, but it's still pretty comfy to me!" He joked.

"Hey! Listen up!" Rose shut both of them up. "Now, we're going to go in there, and we're going to greet Mack if he's up, you got it? Ronny, you and I will offer him some breakfast, and you guys will open all the curtains. Got it?"

"Sounds like a plan." Will replied. "Okay, let's do this." The quintet walked in to find the room empty.

"Where's Mack?" Tyzonn asked. Will went to the window and opened the curtain.

"He's outside already, guys. Sentinel Knight's with him."

The rest of the group ran to the windows and opened them to see if Mack was really outside. They could all see Mack resting peacefully in his hammock.

"Alright, everyone. Plan B." Rose commented.

Mack, however, was still trapped in his own reverie.

_He slowly came to, having fallen into a deeper sleep during the night. He could feel grinding sand beneath him, as well as gently lapping waves. The sensation that he was on top of someone, however, was gone, and replaced by the feeling of someone dragging him._

"_We're here…" The voice from before spoke, only this time the warping of the water and the weak trembling in their voice was replaced with a very familiar tone that reflected off of a metallic mask. "I will deal with you later. The sun and I have a meeting to deal with, dear garnet."_

Mack slowly opened his eyes to find himself outside and surrounded by the Rangers.

"Good morning, Mack." They cheerfully greeted him.

"You're standing in my sunlight." He grumpily replied. They quickly sat down around him.

"Better?" Ronny asked.

"Much." He replied. "Now, what do you want?"

"We're just checking up on you. Making sure you're okay." Rose replied.

"I'm fine. Now, I'd like some peace." He curtly replied. Ronny's eye twitched and she stood up. "Hm?"

"Why are you being rude to us?" She asked him in a stern tone.

"Ronny…" Tyzonn muttered, tugging on her pajama pants.

"No, I'm not going to be nice, Tyzonn." She brushed his hand away. "We're out here because we care about you, and you're just blowing us off because you're mad at everybody. Well, you're our friend, whether you remember us or not, and we want to make sure that you're back in one piece. Sorry that we're inconveniencing you." She then walked back to the house.

Tyzonn sighed and followed her, eventually catching up to her. He lightly sat his hands on her shoulders, which stopped her in her tracks. "Ronny, what was that for?"

"I don't know…maybe I just thought he'd be more grateful after how hard we've worked to bring him back here." She looked down. "I think I just miss the old Mack. He would've been happy to be here with us." She walked out of his grasp and walked back inside and up to her room.

"Well, now that we know he's awake and okay, we should go back to the house, right?" Dax nervously commented, trying to get them all back inside.

"Yeah, we should go get some breakfast." Rose replied in an equally nervous tone, both of them standing up and going back towards the house.

"You just chill out here, okay? We'll come see ya around lunch time." Will smiled, then stood up.

"Don't bother. I'm fine." Mack replied.

"Okay…" Will said, looking a little disappointed as he left. He patted Sentinel Knight on his shoulder as he passed him. "It's all yours." Sentinel Knight sighed as Will left.

"I'll just make breakfast for everyone, okay?" Tyzonn said. "I've learned quite a few things from Spencer on Earth cuisine while I've been here-"

"We'll get our own, but thanks for the offer, Ty." Rose replied, patting him on the shoulder. He gave a slightly disheartened look as she walked into the kitchen.

Tyzonn walked into the living room and saw Ronny idly changing channels. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Don't be so depressed about this, Ronny. Mack will come around…right? We just have to 'kill him with kindness', like Spencer said."

"But what if he just stops listening to us?" Ronny asked, setting the remote down and looking at him. "I'm starting to think that destroying Bardiel was the worst idea I ever had. That really could've been our only chance to get our Mack back."

"Don't get so worried, Ronny. Everything will work out. Maybe he'll be in a better mood when he's completely healed."

"Yeah, maybe…" Ronny sighed and lied her head against his shoulder.

"You want me to make you breakfast? I've learned a few things from Spencer and-"

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry." Tyzonn frowned and patted her shoulder gently as she sighed.

Meanwhile, out in Flurious's lair…

Moltor popped up on Flurious's screen just as Flurious was finishing the repair of his throne. "Getting tired from the five minutes of work you did, brother?" Moltor taunted. Flurious jumped and turned around.

"Sneaking up on me like that is rude!" Flurious scolded.

"And who said I wasn't rude?" Moltor laughed. "So, how're your 'super amazing robotic machines' coming along?"

"They're coming along slowly!" Mig complained while he began pacing in front of Flurious.

"And the laser cannons are so…crude." Benglo added, pacing behind the throne.

"If my giant robots are so inferior, then why are you constantly stealing them?" Flurious shouted.

"We're beggars, not choosers." Mig replied, glaring at Flurious.

Norg and several Chillers rushed in. "They're looking for the gyro, master!" Norg said.

"It's in the back, you frosty nitwits." Flurious shooed them out before turning his attention back to the screen. "How is your robot coming along?"

"I'm all done with mine! I might as well create some air support while I'm waiting." Moltor grinned, making Flurious more enraged.

"We'll contact you when we're done." Flurious growled.

"So I'll hear from you next fall?" Moltor laughed. Flurious smashed the screen with his staff, then turned his attention to the Fearcats, who were pacing in a circle around him and his throne.

"Cut that out! You're going to make me dizzy!" He demanded.

"Well, if your team worked a little faster, we wouldn't be so bored." Mig quipped. Flurious sat down on his throne and seethed while he waited for any good news from the Robot Bay.

Meanwhile, back at the Command Center…

"Well, we tried giving him a warm greeting this morning, but he was even worse than yesterday." Rose reported to Spencer and the now-awake Hartford, who was sporting full-arm gauze wraps and gauze around his forehead.

Spencer grimaced at the news. "He'll come around eventually. He was like this with us when he first arrived here before." He replied in an unsure tone.

"How is he coming around, in the physical sense at least?" Hartford asked.

"We haven't let him move around, but he seems pretty alert." Tyzonn replied.

"Well, thank goodness for that." Hartford weakly smiled. "I'm glad I didn't knock that outta him."

"We're leaving the socializing up to Sentinel Knight now." Will commented. "We agreed that he should probably try talking a little sense into him. I mean, he's the only person who can really get through to him." Tyzonn looked down in thought as Rose began railing off numerous theories as to what they could do.

They walked back upstairs as the conversation came to a close, and Tyzonn stealthily made a break for the back door after a quick dive into the kitchen.

He tossed the bottle of mineral water that he had taken from the fridge into the air, catching it perfectly as he approached Mack.

Mack opened his eyes and looked up at him. "Hey. Thought you might be thirsty."

Mack weakly smiled. "Thanks." Tyzonn offered him a hand. "Hm?"

"Here. Let's see if you can sit up without doing any damage." He softly grabbed Mack's hand and slowly lifted him up. He managed to get Mack to sit in a fully upright position without much trouble. "Wow, your back's healed up really quick, considering how bad it looked yesterday."

"That's what a good night's rest does for me." Mack laughed. "No, it still hurts a lot, but it feels nice to be sitting upright for once."

Mack's bandages, which had been a darkish shade of pink yesterday, had faded to an almost pastel pink now that Mack's body had absorbed a great deal of the garnet material overnight. Tyzonn's excellent body wrapping techniques gave Mack full mobility, even when he was wrapped up entirely from his neck to his feet.

"I…I would like to apologize for the group if they're bothering you." Tyzonn said, sitting on the hammock next to Mack, who had gotten into a criss-cross sitting position after opening the bottle.

"It's alright." He took a long sip from the bottle. "I just don't want to be bothered right now by them."

"Why not? They're nice people if you give them a chance."

"They expect me to just be friends with them when I can't remember a single thing about them. At least you have tried starting from the beginning."

"Well, my girlfriend had to deal with someone with amnesia once, and she told me that the best thing to do is to treat the person like a new acquaintance and try to help them adjust." Tyzonn smiled weakly.

"You have a girlfriend?" Mack asked before taking a quick drink.

"Had." Tyzonn looked a bit pained. The comment bypassed Mack's comprehension for a moment, and he sat wondering what he meant until he realized that Tyzonn looked a bit miserable about it.

"…Oh. Okay." Mack then took a sip of his water and silently nodded.

Inside the mansion, the quartet watched on as Mack and Tyzonn talked on. "I can't believe it," Ronny said in an awestruck tone. "he's out there talking to him…and they're getting along!"

"What's he doing that we ain't?" Will asked.

"Looks like he brought him a bottle of water as a peace offering." Rose noted.

"Well, I guess Tyzonn's our new designated negotiator." Dax commented.

"I see that you two are getting along." Sentinel Knight observed aloud as he walked over to the duo.

"We'll be just fine." Mack replied with a warm smile.

"You look a little cold, Mack. Would you like me to get you something to wear besides the gauze?" He asked.

"The wind is picking up a bit…" Mack observed, giving the impression that the Sentinel Knight was right.

"I'll go get you something." Tyzonn volunteered.

"Thanks. You've been a great help." Mack replied as Tyzonn got up.

"Just stay there, okay? You look like you're in a lot of pain when you move your legs, and I'd hate to see you walking around like that."

"I'm not going anywhere, Doctor Tyzonn." Mack joked.

The group nearly mobbed Tyzonn as he walked inside. "How're you doing that?" Ronny asked him, tugging on his shirt sleeve.

"Doing what?" Tyzonn asked.

"How're you talking to him like that?" Rose rephrased.

"Like I'm talking to you guys: with my mouth and your basic Earth language." The group sighed.

"How're you getting through to him?" Will asked, trying on his own.

"Oh." Tyzonn stopped and turned around. "I was taught that when dealing with people with severe amnesia, to be patient and treat them as a new acquaintance, because that's all you are to them. He hasn't asked any questions, so I really haven't had to break away from that rule. It's a bit hard to pretend I've never met him, though. He's practically my best friend." Tyzonn looked up at the staircase. "I have to find something for Mack to wear…" He walked upstairs and into Mack's room. "Somebody should repair this door." He noted to himself.

"Hm…" Ronny paced around the hallway as the others decided upon going out for groceries.

Mack fell asleep and quickly found himself back where he had started.

_The sound of the waves crashing against the shore not far from him were disturbed by the sound of rocks skipping against the surface. Mack slowly opened his eyes and found himself far back from the shore, lying at the edge of a large boulder. He recognized the rock from his trip earlier in the day; he knew he was still on the beach that he had ended up on this morning, but this time, more inland._

_He looked to the shoreline to see a rather strange sight. The figure ahead of him felt familiar, but didn't look familiar at all. He felt mildly unlucky to only be seeing them from the back, because he wanted to see this…person's…face._

_The figure wore an oddly shaped navy blue metal cuirass, which revealed that he wore a black skintight bodysuit underneath that melded throughout his body and seem to go from his neck to his feet. Around his waist hung a short cape strapped tightly to his waist by two navy blue belts that looked crisscrossed. _

_His bodysuit around his arms was accentuated by white designs that held a small fragment of memory in them to Mack, like he had seen them in a dream long ago. He wore a well-polished gold vambrace on his left arm, which seemed to glimmer in the sunlight._

_His right arm, however, looked much more interesting by comparison. This was the claw-bearing arm, as he could tell. The arm, from halfway down the bicep to the tips of his now elongated fingers was comprised solely of a near-cacophony of blood red jewel panels, compressed and functioning in the same manner as an arm. His overgrown elbow bone seemed to jut out heavily, forming a slight shield protecting the back of his arm joints._

_From the neck up, he could see the glint of a metallic lower face mask underneath his dark curly locks. This was obviously what was distorting the man's voice. On the top of his head, a familiar sight; the back view of the Corona Aurora, perfectly engraved and well maintained._

_Whomever this person was, he wanted to know more about them that moment._

"_Who are you?" Mack called out, drawing the man's attention away from skipping stones across the water. _

"_Shouldn't you be relaxing?" The voice called out, ringing up against the face mask. "Go relax in the sun. I need my rest, too, but it's a lot harder for me to have it. You being here taking up my space doesn't help either."_

"_I'm sorry." Mack replied. "So…tonight, then?"_

"_I'll be all ears." With that, Mack closed his eyes once again and fell into a deeper layer of sleep._

Sentinel Knight watched as the Rangers ran out into the backyard with a football in an attempt to keep themselves busy during the boring mid-afternoon. Will stood as the referee in the match that pitted Tyzonn and Dax against Ronny and Rose.

"Okay, you know the rules. No sacking the quarterback before the count of ten, and although anything goes as far as tackling, try to keep injuries to a minimum. Got it?"

"I'm ready." Ronny replied, a sinister grin spreading across her face.

"You're always ready, aren't you?" Tyzonn asked, giving a grin.

"Okay, who gets who?" Rose asked as Tyzonn and Dax formed a small huddle to converse in private.

"I take Dax, you take Tyzonn. You run behind him and clock him, got it?"

"Got it." Rose nodded. Dax and Tyzonn lined up, Tyzonn taking the position of quarterback as they decided earlier and Dax as receiver.

"Alright…go!" Tyzonn shouted. Ronny looked a bit confused as Dax tossed him the ball and ran off.

"Whatever happened to set, hut?" Ronny asked Tyzonn, giving him a dirty look.

"Huh? Aren't you supposed to be doing something?" Tyzonn asked.

"Damn!" Ronny chased after Dax, who had decided to leap high into the air to avoid Ronny's high-speed tackle.

Rose, now completely invisible, began to slowly creep up behind Tyzonn. However, she neglected to count off ten seconds in her head beforehand. Will, with both his super hearing and super sight activated, both heard her soft footsteps and saw the blades of grass move around her feet. He blew his whistle, causing rose to panic and drop out of invisibility. "Not so fast, Rose. Approaching the quarterback too soon, five yard penalty. Second down." Will grinned as Tyzonn proudly walked ten feet forwards.

"Better luck next time, eh Rose?" Tyzonn commented.

Ronny and Dax, having not heard the whistle from how far down the field they had gotten, continued the down. Ronny leaped into the air as high as she could in attempt to catch Dax as he fell. Her timing was slightly off, however, and her speed sent her rocketing across the field a good fifteen feet off the ground.

As she got close to Mack's hammock, everyone panicked slightly as they worried if she'd hit him or not. She luckily hit the ground about thirty yards short, bounced slightly, then rolled underneath the hammock before coming to a complete stop forty feet from initial contact. She lied prone for a moment to recover, then slowly sat up. Dax ran over to her. "You okay?" He called out as he got close.

"I'll be okay. Timeout." She said, giving the timeout signal with her hands.

After a few minutes, everyone was lined up in their huddles. "Okay. This time, I got Tyzonn. You block Dax." Ronny planned.

"Dax may jump high and run kinda fast, but he can't run from what he can't see." Rose grinned.

"Right."

The two groups lined up and Dax quickly snapped the ball to Tyzonn. He seemed a little surprised when Rose went in pursuit of Dax, but it was mildly expected. "Guess it's just you and me, eh?" He grinned, continuing to count down in his head. As soon as he hit one, he swiftly ordered his body to trigger his internal defense mechanism. Just as Ronny began to rapidly charge him, his entire body structure collapsed, and he dropped to the ground as a large puddle of mercury.

Ronny's eyes widened as she slipped on Tyzonn's now slippery body, comically flying through the air like she had crossed paths with a banana peel. Tyzonn slowly pulled himself back together, looking quite pained as the process finished. "Ow…" He winced and tossed the ball as Ronny slowly got up. He grabbed her by the arm and helped her up, dusting her off as he got her to her feet. "Sorry for that? You okay?"

"That was a pretty good trick." Ronny grinned. "But you can't fool me twice."

Dax watched as the ball seemed to sail haphazardly through the air. "What the crap, Ty?" He complained as he went to jump for it. As soon as he jumped up, Rose attempted to grab his legs and tackle him. Unfortunately, her weight alone wasn't enough to stop his current propulsion, and she sailed into the air with him, clamping nervously to his ankles.

She dropped out of invisibility as the ball flew under her, much to the anger of Dax. "Ty, man, ya missed!" He then noticed Rose clamped to his ankles. "Oh whoa, where'd you come from?" He grabbed her wrists and hoisted her up. "Going down?"

"Please!" Rose shouted in a wavering tone, clinging tightly to his jacket. Dax noted her sudden clinginess and grinned.

"If all I need to get girls to cling to me like this, I should do this more often to them." Dax joked. Rose flicked his nose and he pulled back away from her and rubbed his nose to get the feeling out of it.

"Incomplete pass. Third down and five." Will grinned while announcing. "They're getting creamed…" he muttered to himself.

As both of the girls got into their huddle, Ronny grinned wildly once more. "Oh no. What is it?" Rose asked.

"We do the same thing we did on the first down. They won't be expecting it."

"You wanna do that again?"

"Just remember to count to ten, and it'll work this time. I gotta time myself right, too, so don't worry about it." Ronny grinned. "We'll do great."

"If you say so. Count to ten…" Rose mumbled as the guys took their positions. "Okay."

Dax snapped the ball to Tyzonn and instantly Rose went invisible. Ronny started running at her normal pace, which was slower than Dax's, which let the appropriate amount of distance come between them.

"8, 9, 10…" Rose counted under her breath. "Right." She quickly tiptoed behind Tyzonn, then tackled him just as he threw the ball. "Oh crap!" Rose commented as the ball wobbled out towards Dax.

"Same trick twice, eh?" Tyzonn asked. "Nice try, though." Tyzonn pressed upwards, pushing Rose off.

Ronny paid attention to Dax's feet and began applying her super speed. Just as he jumped, she followed him in step. She slightly careened off the ground and collided with Dax just as he got up to her height. She turned around and spotted the ball flying towards her, and she quickly caught it and pulled it close to her.

As they began to land, Ronny dropped her feet and stuck the landing perfectly. She didn't let even a millisecond pass before she burst across the field at super speed, which even surprised Will. She knocked over the recovering Tyzonn and reached their designated goal line before he hit the ground.

Will's eyes widened as he called the play. "Interception and touchdown." He noted before going over to help Dax up.

"That was like, the worst tackle ever." Dax commented as he limped over to Tyzonn.

Tyzonn looked over at Rose and Ronny, who had begun a celebration in the end zone. "They finally got us." Tyzonn commented, holding his side where Ronny hit him.

"Well, I think she needed that." Dax replied as he watched her laugh.

Another few rounds and the group retreated inside for a bit of relaxation, trying not to worry as much about Mack since Sentinel Knight was guarding him. Will had a point; there was nothing any of them besides Tyzonn could do to communicate with Mack in his current attitude. Ronny sat on the living room couch as the night rolled in, freshly showered and in her night clothes, playing with the ears of her left bunny slipper as Tyzonn walked in.

"Oh, hey." Tyzonn said, sitting next to her. "You don't mind if I come in and watch some TV, do you?"

"Better than nothing." Ronny replied, her voice dripping with ennui.

Tyzonn knew what was wrong, because Ronny was doing an unusually bad job of acting like she was fine. "C'mon, Ronny. Cheer up. You looked great out there today, laughing and smiling. You can't let something we can't fix bother you so much."

"What if this's how it is forever? Do we just pretend that Mack doesn't exist? Do we ask Mr. Hartford to fully replace him and go to how he planned it to be? Do we get a new guy and just let Mack go on his own way? We saw how that worked out. It just…I don't know. It just bugs me." Ronny stopped fidgeting with the slipper and sat back.

"Today's the first whole day he's been here with us, Ronny. He'll get used to being here with us eventually. Maybe he'll even remember us someday."

"When? When is 'someday'? I don't like this." Ronny pouted. "It just worries me that Mack's not gonna want to be here anymore and we might have to replace him. He's my best friend, just like you and the rest of the crew, and I hate losing my best friends. I wish he'd just stop being such a jerk and give us a chance." Ronny huffed. "I mean, if we we're no better than Flurious or Moltor, would we care about his well-being? No. So why is he treating them better than us?"

"Well, human beings used him as a weapon for a long time before we came along, so it's not like he doesn't have a reason to mistrust us. And what Hartford did didn't help any, either. Flurious and Moltor and I…I suppose we have an advantage because we're not from Earth. But I think that once he sees that we mean him no harm, he'll come around. Even if he doesn't remember us, it doesn't mean that he won't ever be friends with us." Tyzonn smiled and scooted over next to her. "C'mon, I know you got a smile in there for that." Ronny gave him a weak half-smile. "See? There we go."

Ronny tapped her palm against his forehead, gently pushing his head back and facing the ceiling. "Jerk." She joked before getting up.

"What?" He asked.

"You did all that to get a smile outta me." She mock-pouted.

"Well, it wasn't my original intent!" He replied. Ronny laughed and left the room. "Wait, what?" He got up and followed her outside.

Meanwhile…

"_Garnet…Garnet Sun…wake up!" Mack felt his shoulders being shaken as a metallic voice called out to him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a strange sight in front of him._

_Above him was a familiar face with wild blood red eyes, cut off from below the bridge of his nose down by a gold metallic face mask. Dark curly hair, messier than he last saw it, sat around his head. It was then that Mack realized why the face looked familiar; it was his own. Mack's eyes widened as the strange doppelganger of him smiled. At least, from the way the top half of his face moved, it looked like he was smiling._

"_You're awake. Good." The doppelganger said, taking a seat down in front of Mack. The dark blue metallic cuirass that the doppelganger wore bore a perfect replica of the Garnet Sun in the center of the chest, along with bent stripes of the same metal acting as a crude defense for his torso. The two belts he had seen before connected around his inner thighs, and the hip cape appeared to be sewn in from the inside. A pair of polished gold greaves caught his eyes as he tried to look down at himself._

_Mack saw that he was in a different outfit, and vaguely recalled being dressed in it. He now wore a red teeshirt, a black jacket with red stripes down the sleeves, and black jeans with black dress shoes. _

"_Don't you look just comfortable? I'm a bit envious." The doppelganger commented._

"_Tell me who you are this instant." Mack demanded. _

_The doppelganger stood up and offered his hand in greeting. "My name is Bardiel. Sorry to invade your thoughts, but ever since I've been stuck in this sort of existence, I've been trying to find you."_

"…_What do you mean?"_

"_Your stupid companions didn't like what I had to say, and didn't like how I said it, so they beat me to a pulp." He spoke in an almost childish tone and frowned in a cartoonish manner, from the looks of his eyes._

"_They're not my companions." Mack replied, standing up._

"_They're not?" Bardiel cocked his head to the side and gave a confused look. "From what I know of them, they're even closer than that, I presumed…" He placed his hand under his chin and gave a thinking look._

"_From what you know…?"_

"_Mhm! That yellow one and the strange silver one are good friends, indeed! The dark-skinned one, too. The blue comedian one is funny because he tries too hard to make me laugh. The pink one thinks too much in general. If any of them were people to mistrust, it might be her. Oh, and Spencer! He's nice…hm. I've had a while to process all this, and all I have is roughly a year and a half of things to think about…" Bardiel sat down and thought._

"_Year and a half?" Mack realized it the moment it came out of Bardiel's mouth. "…Where are you stuck?"_

"_Here, in a strange state between sleep and awake. I'm too strong to be comatose, but too weak to be conscious. Ronny was really angry at me…" Bardiel hummed as he got up and walked about. He rubbed his head in a soothing manner, then stretched, looking a bit pained. "I have very fond memories of the Ronny girl. I wonder if she was hurt by what I said. She looked it." He didn't quite answer Mack's question, but the comment itself was intriguing. From what he took of the starting comment, Bardiel was nothing more than a lonely child locked in a semi-comatose state. But how Bardiel knew everything he didn't…_

"_Are you thinking about me?" Bardiel asked him. Mack was shaken out of his thoughts by the statement, and he looked over at Bardiel. Bardiel's eyes squinted and his cheeks raised, giving the appearance of a smile. "How sweet!" He replied, quickly shuffling over to embrace Mack._

"_What are you?" Mack asked him softly._

_Bardiel let him go and stepped back. "Flurious…he created me from whatever he compiled of you. So…I'm you…sort of." Bardiel sighed. "There's a lot I don't know…I'm so confused." He sat down and gave a depressed look. "My mood fluctuates so much, I don't know what to do."_

_Mack wasn't sure of what to do. If Bardiel was really him, and he knew what he didn't…_

"_Why don't we talk and piece things together?" Mack asked._

_Bardiel looked up with a look of surprise dancing around his pupils. "Piece…together? Don't you remember everything?"_

"_I don't."_

"_Hm…" Bardiel took a pensive pose. "Perhaps this's some sort of…failsafe Idiot Andrew set up…?"_

_Mack sat in front of Bardiel, thinking about his earlier comment. "Why don't you tell me what you know about my…companions?"_

_Bardiel looked more than ready to start._

Rose and Ronny walked outside at around midnight, still not tired enough to sleep. Rose plopped down on the lawn near Sentinel Knight with an advanced textbook and a large notebook, while Ronny came out with nothing more than a blanket and a glass of lemonade.

"Good evening, Rose, Ronny." Sentinel Knight softly bowed his head to each before refocusing on Mack. "You're both up late."

"Can't sleep. Used to Mack pacing around the mansion." Rose replied, flipping through the pages of her book.

"Can't sleep either. I…just can't." Ronny replied. "I don't have an excuse."

"Don't need one. We know you're worried about Mack." Rose replied.

Ronny took a sip of her lemonade, letting Rose revel in her correctness.

"No need to worry about him. He's been resting soundly since shortly after Tyzonn left him this afternoon. I can feel his energy from here as well; that's a very good sign indeed."

"See? Don't worry about it. Go to sleep." Rose snipped.

"Something wrong, Rose?" Ronny asked.

"I…I'm not used to being out here on the grass doing work."

"Here, take my blanket. I need to get up and move around anyways." Ronny replied, getting up and finishing off her glass of lemonade in one long chug.

She walked around, looking up at the sky, thinking about the stars and constellations. Had Mack seen that Perseus was in the sky brightly now? She could faintly remember him running around the yard a few weeks ago cheerily commenting that the constellation he waited all year for was going to be in full view soon. She frowned, thinking to herself that he had probably forgotten that, too. She turned and walked towards Mack, sighing internally.

_Mack and Bardiel lied down in the sand, looking up at the stars. "Do you see Cassiopiea?" Bardiel asked. "I remember that one because you've always thought of it as representing Rose."_

"_Are there ones for the others?" Mack asked._

"_That one, Auriga, is Ronny. And the Ship of Argos there…Will is Carina, Dax is Puppis, and Tyzonn is Vela. Maybe because he's from the sky and the highest part of the ship fits him best?" Bardiel seemed ponderous in his words. _

_Mack marveled at the skyline, wondering which star marked his former resting place, that sacred and near-desolate rock he affectionately called 'home' long ago. He wondered how Sentinel Knight had gotten from there to Earth, and if he would eventually go back there with the completed Corona one day. Mack felt unusually uncomfortable all of sudden while thinking about it, like something was inherently wrong with the idea. Mack cleared his mind and looked over at Bardiel, who was chuckling to himself._

"_Cepheus…Idiot Andrew as Cepheus…" He burst out laughing. "So fitting…so strange…" He wiped what seemed to be a tear from his eye. "Ah, sorry. Did I disturb you?"_

"_Is there one for Spencer, too?"_

"_Ah, yes! Fornax, of course." He smiled. "Why would he be anything else?"_

"_Don't know." Mack looked back up at the sky. "…Why do you think you and I aren't sharing the same memories?"_

"_Hm?" Bardiel looked over at him with a puzzled look on his face. "Oh…well…I see this as maybe…a wall…with a door…in the middle of the field. We once had the entire field to ourselves, and then the wall was placed there, and the door was padlocked. We tried very hard to pick the lock, and then the broken piece of you suddenly showed up, and we used it. You went in, and the door shut and locked behind you…but I have a spare key of sorts…I don't get why that is. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to have it, being the original person?" _

_Bardiel sat up and looked out onto the ocean. "Maybe it has something to do with the wall itself, ya know?" He picked up a smoothed pebble and tossed it as far as he could, far from sight. "I mean, I would be more than happy to tell you everything I can remember, but many things are truly 'you had to be there' sorts of things."_

_Mack remained silent, but his mind raced in response to the point Bardiel had made. How did Hartford make him forget everything, anyways?_

"_Hey, I can't see Perseus here…stupid cloud cover." Bardiel huffed. "The view here is miserable."_

"_Oh…Perseus…" Mack remembered the numerous great adventures he read about the young man in mythology. He could even remember hearing stories about him long ago about his adventures, and even the cheesy movie Andrew had him watch almost two years ago. It was one of his favorite tales of adventure from the times long ago._

"_Hey, maybe you could see Perseus at the mansion!" Bardiel cheerily replied. "You're there, right?"_

"_I'm already out on the lawn." Mack grinned. "You want me to look at it for you and tell you how it looks tonight?" He asked, sitting up._

"_Would you?" Bardiel looked over at him with a hopeful look on his face._

"_Of course. Lemme just wake up…" Mack lied back and forced himself to wake up._

Mack's eyes shot open as he leaned up slightly. He was a bit surprised to find that Ronny's face was practically touching his, and he stopped his momentum. Ronny's pupils seemed to dilate and her cheeks began to turn red as she stood up and pulled her hand away from his chest.

_A faint thought crossed Mack's mind, almost like a dream, of Ronny in strange attire, standing at the top of the stairs inside the mansion, looking down before retreating into her room…_

Mack blinked a few times as the thought faded, leaving him mildly confused.

"I'm sorry." Ronny said in a mildly embarrassed tone. "I was just-"

"Don't worry. It's okay." He replied as he finished sitting up. "I woke up to see-"

"Perseus?"

He gave her a strange look. "…Yeah. How'd you know?"

"You had told me once that it's one of your favorite constellations." Ronny replied, sitting down next to the hammock. An awkward silence filled the air as Mack and Ronny looked around for Perseus. "There." Ronny pointed it out.

Mack followed her finger upwards, and he smiled at the sight of the perfectly aligned stars. Ronny sat her hands in her lap and looked down. "You have a pulse. I was just a little surprised because you didn't have one the last time, and I wanted to see how, how-"

"Human I am?" He finished. "I'm as human as I'll ever be able to become. A pulse though, is just my body recovering or my body reacting to depression. One of the two. For some reason, I can't handle being unhappy. Maybe it's my…sunny disposition." He felt stupid for making such a lame joke, but Ronny found him funny. He smiled.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you this morning." She said after a few moments of silence.

"Don't feel bad. I'm just venting because nothing seems to be going right for me. First I lose the last year and a half of my life, then everybody's chasing after me, then I get used as a weapon again, and now I'm right back where I'm least comfortable. I suppose not having Andrew here is alright for the time being."

"We're probably the best bodyguards you can have. We don't want to use the Corona as a weapon at all, you know. We just want to keep people like Flurious and Moltor from using it. That's why we have to get the Corona back and pro-"

"You lost the Corona?" Mack sighed.

"That's Mr. Hartford's fault."

"Well, you have three Jewels and no Corona. Do your enemies have anything else besides the Corona?"

"Miratrix and Kamdor have the Blue Sapphire, and Moltor has the Corona. I guess now with you here, we're down to finding the last Jewel."

"The pink one, right?" Mack supposed that the Lucky Pearl and Torhu Diamond were truly the Black and Yellow Jewels.

"I think so, yeah." Ronny replied.

"I see. Well, I suppose that I could resume my role as your leader and help you all retrieve the two Jewels and the Corona. You guys don't seem too ill-willed." His statement made her smile. "You like that idea?"

"I'd like it a lot." Ronny replied.

"Then I will. If that's what you want, I'd be more than happy to help."

Ronny tried not to laugh as she realized that she just formed one of Mack's 'desire' contracts that Sentinel Knight said he loved to make. She didn't know who had just tricked who, but she decided to see if she could completely change his mind for a while. "I want to get these Jewels and the Corona, and protect humanity from destruction at the hands of people who would want to use it. That's my dream."

"Really now?" By the tone of his voice, he had apparently taken the bait.

"Mmm. But for now, they're not doing anything, so we can rest peacefully."

"How do you know that those, those people aren't trying to find a Jewel right now?"

"Well, if they cause a Jewel or an artifact related to it to activate, our Jewel Alarm goes off. Rose had to recode the program to keep it from screaming 24/7 over you being here." Ronny laughed softly.

"So you…we…have traveled the world to find all of the Jewels…" Mack sighed wistfully, wishing he could remember the trips he must have taken.

"It's been fun, all of us together…" Ronny fell silent. "You, me, the others…we've done a lot of great things."

"Found some of the Jewels of the Corona, given them a safe haven…" Mack continued on for her. She smiled and leaned against the end pole of the hammock.

"I'm just glad you're here, safe and sound." She gazed upwards to the sky and sighed happily.

Rose sat her pen in the crease between two pages. "Well, looks like someone else's gotten through to him besides Tyzonn. About time."

"He does seem to be coming around, doesn't he? I think he'll be back to interacting with everyone in no time at this rate." Rose smiled and nodded briefly, then went back to her work.

Back at the ice floe…

Flurious growled as waited for a report from his Robot Bay. They should've been done by now…but then again with Norg in charge of them, the thing might not even have a completed gyro yet, he mused. It was then that a small group of Chillers marched in. Flurious would've been a bit more optimistic if they had been the Chillers he sent to complete the robot, but he was intrigued by the scout party that had left earlier.

"What did you find?" He barked at them as he sat up in his throne. The leader began rattling off a chain of inhuman grunts, yells, and growls that all but Flurious and the Chillers themselves couldn't possibly comprehend. Flurious gave them a look of shock. "Is that so?" The Chiller replied with a growl that sounded almost cheerful. "Well, hasn't our luck just changed?" He pulled up an ice screen and set the view down on the bay.

Back at the mansion, Mack began to slide out of the hammock. "And just where do you think you're going?" Ronny asked.

"I'm going to my room. I still have one here, right?" Mack replied.

"Of course you do," Ronny got up on her feet and stood over him. "but I can't let you get up and move around. Not after resting for only as long as you have. I'll carry you."

"Carry me?" Mack gave her an awkward look. "I enjoy everybody pampering me, but I don't need to be carried around like I can't walk." Mack stood up slowly, his legs wobbling very little as he steadied himself. "See? I can stand just fine." He took a step forwards with little resistance, and continued to walk across the yard as if nothing had happened to him within the last 48 hours.

Sentinel Knight shot up and dashed across the field in a panic, and Rose quickly got up and followed him. "Stop!" Sentinel Knight shouted. Mack gave him a strange look as he stopped in front of Mack and turned around, squatting slightly and holding his arms at right angles. "I must protect the safety of the Jewels of the Corona, regardless of their current state. I cannot let you go moving about in your current condition, so I will carry you inside."

Mack sighed deeply, a tone of irritation lingering within it. "Fine…" He felt childish as he wrapped his arms around Sentinel Knight's neck, but he found the lack of stress in his shins to be a fair trade for a little dignity as Sentinel Knight gently clamped onto Mack's forearms and stood up, lifting the young man off his feet.

An alarm rang out through the compound; a different sort of wail from the Jewel Alarm. "That's the Gyro Alarm!" Rose shouted.

"What's going on? What's a gyro?" Mack asked.

"Flurious's giant robots use a gyro as a power source. They generate a certain kind of energy signature that we can pick up and track. I set the tracking device up to have a different alarm so we could tell the difference between a Jewel signature and a gyro signature." She beamed with pride. "If we don't act fast, the city could be leveled."

"So he might he trying to get to your Jewels and myself from you by force?" Mack sounded genuinely curious.

"He could. I mean, he hasn't before, but he's been doing quite a few surprising things lately." Ronny added as they made their way inside and dashed downstairs.

"Wait up, Rangers!" Sentinel Knight shouted. "I can't go too fast, or I might injure Mack!"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm fine." He commented.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just go. If they're after me and the rest of the Jewels here, then we have no time to waste." Mack replied.

The rest of the group was huddled in a groggy mass around the viewing screen as the girls, Sentinel Knight, and Mack arrived.

"Chair." Rose said, grabbing the chair Andrew usually had sitting in front of the controls and sliding it over as Sentinel Knight gently sat Mack down in it. The boys turned around, and Will gave a devilish grin. "Well, look who's joined us down here." He said, his voice trying to convey a sense of joy when it really was dripping with drained cynicism.

"Nice to see you too." Mack replied, his tone devoid of a false sense of kindness, almost baring fangs. Will's grin quickly disappeared.

"Alright, where's the signature coming from?" Rose asked, quickly hacking through the tension.

"From the-" Tyzonn fell silent when he saw the location. "Oh no."

"What is it?" Mack asked, leaning forwards in the chair.

"Bardiel." Ronny said ominously.

"Bardiel?" Mack was confused; was this Bardiel and his Bardiel the same thing? "What's Bardiel?"

The Rangers were transfixed on the screen in terror, and Rose didn't even bother turning around to address Mack. "A strange hybrid of your crystalline blood and Flurious's gyro technology. If it gets up to full power again, we're done for. We didn't even have a chance the first time..."

"We have to get the jump on him first." Will cut her off.

"What if it remembers the fight? We have to come up with a whole new battle tactic." Tyzonn added. "I say we go for a straightforward, everything-at-once approach."

"Can we pilot three megazords at once with just the five of us, I mean, Mack can't-" The group turned around to find his seat empty, the Sentinel Knight noticeably absent. "Where'd he go?" Rose asked them. They shrugged. "Should we do a scan for him?" The screen alerted them that the S.H.A.R.C. had left its bay. "Well, there he is."

"How'd he get there so fast?" Ronny asked.

As the S.H.A.R.C. shot through the ocean en route, the Sentinel Knight stood and watched in wonder as Mack seemed to instinctively pilot the craft. "Was this sudden information enough to restore your memories, Mack?" He asked.

"No. I don't even know what I'm doing. I feel like I'm being guided through this, like a puppet. I know that I know this, but I can't remember doing this." Mack gave a pained look that seemed to spread rapidly throughout his whole body.

"Are we honestly en route to Bardiel's resting place in the ocean?" Sentinel Knight asked in a worried tone. "That machine nearly destroyed all our zords."

"He was being used by Flurious, like me. I won't allow it again." Mack's tone turned painfully serious.

"This mecha is deadly! What do you think it will do to you?"

"Nothing. He won't harm me. He's as solitary and alone as I am. I will protect him from being used, and you should, too. You're supposed to protect the Jewels of the Corona, which implies that you're supposed to protect anything that is made from parts of it. That means you have to help me protect Bardiel from Flurious's control."

Sentinel Knight gave it a long thought, but realized something. "This isn't about Bardiel, is it? This is about you forgetting everything, isn't it?"

Mack fell silent as he set the S.H.A.R.C. on cruise control. "I've been…haunted, for lack of a better word, by Bardiel's subconscious in my sleep cycle. He knows everything; everything I know, everything I've forgotten, and even things I'd never think of knowing. He wants nothing to do with what Flurious wants, and neither do I." Mack stood up and faced Sentinel Knight, who was giving him a mildly confused look.

"I…" Sentinel Knight looked for the words to say as Mack waited for an answer. "I understand…that this hurts you to not remember the last year and a half, and I understand that you want to help everyone and not feel so useless, but this isn't how you help out. I don't even know what you're planning to do once we get down there."

"I'm going to infiltrate Bardiel, and try to destroy the gyro from inside."

"I won't allow this!"

"I'd rather be destroyed than let myself be a weapon anymore!" Mack looked to be on the verge of tears, and he could feel the pulsation of the Garnet Sun slowly dragging him into unconsciousness. He pushed away his depressing thoughts and wiped away his tears to satiate the Jewel, and he began having a wild epiphany as he tried to focus his thoughts. He finally realized the answer to Bardiel's ponderings, and Sentinel Knight noticed a change in the young man's appearance.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm not useful to anyone like this. I will never regain my memories, and I'll never function right in the group." Mack's voice had gone soft and near-monotone.

"Don't say that Mack."

Mack continued on, acting as if he hadn't heard Sentinel Knight's reply. "Every time I try to remember, I get a headache, my muscles ache and I get tired, and I forget what I'm trying to remember. That's the wall…" His eyes shimmered like the garnets they resembled. "If I can come in physical contact with Bardiel, maybe I can kill two birds with one stone."

"I'm not quite clear about what you're going on about, but I can't allow the risk that you might be destroyed. We just have to trust the Rangers to fix this."

"Aren't I their leader?" Sentinel Knight didn't answer. "Isn't it my responsibility, as their leader, to make the first move in a battle? To charge forward and inspire my fellow group members?"

Sentinel Knight sighed softly. "Yes." He replied, sounding defeated.

"Then why are you stopping me?"

Sentinel Knight approached him slowly while speaking. "Mack, you're my responsibility, and I know that this has all been very hard for you…" He seized Mack's arms, causing the young man to swiftly react, turning the guardian around and pinning his arms behind his back.

"You obviously don't." Mack replied. "You would at least stand by my decision and not try to drag me away if you understood." Sentinel Knight grimaced, then charged forwards with Mack in tow. He slowed down as he approached the back of the cabin, then turned on his heel, slamming Mack into the wall and causing him to let go.

"Forgive me Mack, but you've lost your mind. I cannot allow you to walk into a potentially dangerous, even fatal, situation. The Rangers will set this right. Now stop this."

Mack sweeped Sentinel Knight's legs and dropped him quickly and shook the craft lightly. Mack got up and ran towards the craft controls. Sentinel Knight grabbed his ankle, and Mack kicked backwards, smacking his foot against the helmet and right epaulet until he managed to slip his foot out of the Sentinel Knight's grasp. He quickly punched in a few things, then headed for the emergency exit in the ceiling as Sentinel Knight got to his feet.

The craft began to slow down as they reached Bardiel. Mack quickly unscrewed the emergency exit as Sentinel Knight reached out for him. Mack opened the hatch and jumped slightly, grabbing hold of the roof and pulling himself up to it just in time to avoid the Sentinel Knight's clutches. "Just watch me. You'll understand!" Mack shouted.

As the S.H.A.R.C. came to a complete stop, it bucked slightly, sending the Sentinel Knight tumbling forwards as Mack was sent rolling across the roof. Mack stopped himself and kicked the emergency door exit shut, then twisted the handle enough to jam the crank. He began to dash across the roof as fast as he could and made a running dive into the bay just as the S.H.A.R.C. turned around as programmed.

Sentinel Knight ran to the controls and watched the scanner, in hopes that all went according to Mack's own plan, for his sake. "I believe in you…but that's not enough right now…"

"The S.H.A.R.C.'s turning around. I wonder why." Rose thought aloud.

"Lemme call them." Ronny replied, setting up a comlink with the craft. "Mack? Sentinel Knight? What's going on?"

After a few moments, a solemn reply returned. "Mack is not with me."

"What?!" Ronny shouted.

"It's not like I let him leave. He's very…physically persuasive." Sentinel Knight rubbed his head. "He's decided to go on his own for many reasons. He believes he has to make the first move in battle as the Red Ranger, that he could stop the gyro internally, and above all, that coming in contact with Bardiel might allow him to break down some sort of memory barrier he referred to as a 'wall'."

"Well, he's one for three already." Dax replied, pointing up at the radar. Rose's eyes jolted open and she began looking as the small chart at the bottom of the screen, which analyzed the power level of the gyro. "You're right, Dax. Whatever Mack's planned on doing, it's working." She pointed to the chart, which showed a steep decrease in power that showed no sign of stopping.

"What is he doing to it?" Ronny asked Rose.

"I'm not sure." Suddenly, the alarm stopped, and the chart hit bottom and flatlined. "Whatever he did, he stopped Bardiel's gyro dead in the water…literally."

"What just happened?" Flurious shouted from his throne room. "Why did the gyro stop?"

"Is something the matter, Flurious?" Benglo asked in a mocking tone.

"None of your business!" Flurious barked. Benglo and Mig snickered. A lone Chiller ran in from the Robot Bay, drawing Flurious's attention. "What is it?" The Chiller rattled off a series of grunts. "Two hours? Make it faster! It's almost morning!" The Chiller rattled off again, sounding like it was pleading. "I don't care if you're understaffed and the gyro's too cold to run right! Finish it and warm the damn thing up with torches if you have to!" He sat back in his throne and waited.

"We can't do anything to help Mack, can we?" Tyzonn asked.

"It doesn't look like he needs our help." Will replied with a huff. "Ya know, of all the people in our group to just run off like this, Mack is the last person I'd expect."

"Of all people, it would be you." Ronny quipped. Will gave her a look.

Rose quickly accessed the Jewel Radar and set the alarm to silent. A large blip seemed to take the place of where Bardiel laid. "Well, if anything, his Jewel signature's still active. I guess it's a good sign."

"I too still sense Mack's presence, and at no time did I ever sense a change in his condition. I believe him to be alive and well at the moment."

"Well then, I say we all head back to bed." Dax stated. "I mean, if he's fine, and he doesn't need to breathe underwater, we can just get a few more hours of sleep and get him in the morning. Right?"

"As much as I wanna disagree with you," Ronny yawned. "but I'm too tired to argue."

"I'll help Sentinel Knight out with the S.H.A.R.C., then I'm going to bed too." Tyzonn replied.

"I'm just going to chart up a few more settings on this detection unit, then I'm heading up to my room." Rose added.

"Alright, I guess it's unanimous. We'll get Mack in the morning." Will replied. "But I'm beat now, so goodnight to ya'll."

"Goodnight." The group parted ways for their separate rooms.

Ronny waited until Dax and Will had turned their lights off before letting off a burst of super speed into Mack's room. She grabbed his pillow, super dashed back to her room, and curled up in bed with it, quickly falling back to sleep after a sigh of content.

It seemed like forever to Mack between the time he had managed to shut the gyro down and the time he then woke up. He wasn't sure exactly how he had got into the place he was now, this wide open cavity inside Bardiel that was partially flooded with crystal-laced water, but he felt secure. He sat up, the water now sitting below his solar plexus. He felt the room shift around him, as if Bardiel itself had moved with him. A calm and familiar voice entered his thoughts as he looked around.

_Welcome Garnet. I was afraid that we were actually parting ways when the gyro started again. Thank you for overriding the controls in my lapse of control. You must have blacked out from such a display of raw power. I've been trying to rebuild you a place to reside for now; I hope you like it._

"Well, it could use a lot less water." Mack joked as his hand reached out and touched the solid architecture next to him. Under his fingers, it felt like sand. He looked over at it and gave a look.

_Is something wrong, Garnet?_

"It feels like sand."

_That is what I crashed into as I drifted into the ocean, a small island._

"So I'm feeling what's around you?"

_I have set all of my movement to your control through a unique system. You move, I move. If it disturbs you, I can stop and just take you for a ride._

"No, it's okay." Mack looked around, taking it all in. Everything was scaled down around him, he assumed. This small patch of land he could hardly stand on would likely be a nice place to fish, relax, and soak up some sunrays on any other day. "This is a little…different." The voice laughed. "So, Bardiel, how long have I been unconscious?"

_Approximately one hour, twenty-seven minutes. You feel kind've cold from the energy release earlier, but luckily, it's 5:47 AM Pacific Standard Time, and the sun will be rising today in about twenty-three minutes. I suggest a quick trip to an island I passed by earlier, as the sun will be initially peaking over its small hill first before any other island._

Mack was impressed by Bardiel's precise accuracy. "How'd you know about the sunrise time today?"

_When you eat breakfast in the living room with Tyzonn every Monday, the channel he watches gives the weekly rundown on the predicted sunrises based on current trends in the sunrises. That, and you've memorized Spencer's copy of this year's Farmer's Almanac._

"Oh. Right." Mack replied, standing up.

_So, to the island we go?_

"Yes."

_I will guide you, then. Turn around 180 degrees and head northwest. I'll tell you when I see it, but when you see it, you'll probably recognize it._

"Alright." Mack began following Bardiel's directions, watching the landscape around him instantly change, even down to the floor moving beneath him. Thoughts of all types rushed through his mind as he continued making his way to the island. A few minutes later, he saw an island that looked big, even for him.

_I told you it was big._

"Can I sit down here and think?"

_Of course! You're in command, Garnet. I am merely an extension of your body…a nice fifty meter tall, thirty-five hundred ton extension._

Mack smiled and sat down crosslegged in the middle of the field. After a few moments of meditation and focusing his thoughts, one stood out to him.

"Bardiel?"

_You called, Garnet?_

"Do you think…do you think that perhaps Ronny is trying to repay me with her efforts now?"

_My opinion? I think there's more to it._

"I'm glad I'm not alone on that thought." Mack smiled, then went back to focusing his thoughts.

Rose woke up as 6 AM sharp, as usual, and looked over at her dresser. She had rigged small color-coded lights to her dresser that blinked whenever a certain alarm went off. She saw that the red light, the light designated to the Jewel Alarm, was still blinking. She smiled, as it was a sure sign that Mack was still alive.

She walked downstairs to find that everyone else was already awake and in the kitchen, as she could hear the shuffling of plates and cabinet doors.

"Hey Rose." They greeted her as she entered.

"You want some fried eggs and potatoes? I used olive oil instead of shortening or butter." Tyzonn cheerfully stated. "If you don't want that, I was thinking of taking some vegetables and stir-frying them in peanut oil and adding some spices to it."

"I'll just take a fried egg." Rose replied. Tyzonn grabbed a plate and deftly slid an egg off the grill and sat it dead center on the plate, then handed it to her.

"Lemonade's on the table, and glasses are in the cabinet."

"You weren't kidding when you said you were a good cook." Ronny commented with her mouth half-full with hash brown potatoes slathered in ketchup.

"If this Ranger thing doesn't work out Ty, you could open up your own little breakfast shop. I would drive as far as I've have to go, and pay whatever you charged for this." Dax added.

"I don't think I could bear to charge people for my food. It's not something we Mercurians do." Tyzonn replied as he walked to the fridge and grabbed a few bags of vegetables.

"Really? Then how do your restaurants stay in business?" Dax asked.

"We're not very…um, what's the word? Money…driven. We live in large communities and are self-reliant, for the most part. We have a system of measuring value that's accepted by everyone, but it's not something that motivates many." Tyzonn felt a warm feeling as he talked about his friends and family.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Dax commented.

The doorbell rang, which drew the attention of the Rangers away from their food. Their hopes that they wouldn't have to fish Mack out of the bay rose by the sound. "I will get it." Sentinel Knight replied, making his way to the front door at a brisk pace.

He opened the door to reveal Hartford standing on the other side of the door with Spencer, who looked a bit embarrassed. "Forgive me for having to ring the doorbell, but in my haste, I forgot the key to the front door." Spencer sheepishly stated.

"That's okay. Come on in." Sentinel Knight replied, walking out of their way.

The Rangers ran in, and felt slightly disappointed that Mack was not there. Hartford weakly smiled and waved slightly. "I would give a better hello, but the painkillers are tiring me out and I'm not to move my arms much for the next few weeks." He commented, making his way to them slowly. He then noticed that something was slightly amiss. "Where's Mack? I guess he still doesn't wish to be around me, huh?" The lack of a response troubled him.

"Mack is out walking about right now. We told him that we'd have to keep the monitor on him to make sure nothing bad happened to him, but other than that, he's fine!" Ronny made up on the fly. The rest of the group looked at her in awe, and she looked around at them. "Right?"

"Yeah! Oh, yeah, definitely." The rest of the Rangers quickly agreed with her in the most convinced way they could.

"Something smells delicious. What's cooking?" Hartford asked, walking out to the kitchen.

"I'm making breakfast. Would you like something?" Tyzonn asked.

"I think I just want to watch some TV on the couch now. The hospital food has all but permanently driven away my appetite." Hartford joked.

"We're gonna play a few rounds of pool." Ronny replied, trying to fake a nice smile. The pleasantries seemed to be dropped and replaced by tension between Hartford and the Rangers.

"Yeah." The group replied.

"I still have to make my breakfast." Tyzonn added in at the last minute. "I'll be in the kitchen."

"I'll join you there in a moment." Spencer replied as Tyzonn left the room.

"And I will…go monitor Mack." Sentinel Knight added, heading downstairs.

Spencer helped Hartford get comfortable on the couch, but something was still lingering in the air. "They still don't trust me." Hartford commented softly.

"I wouldn't expect them to do so in such a short time, sir." Spencer replied. "All we can do is wait for time to run its course."

"I doubt that will help this situation, but I guess it's alright to think that it will." Hartford replied. "Could you please turn on the news for me?"

"Of course, sir." Spencer picked up the remote and changed the channel to the local news station. The sight on the television was stunning as the reporter's voice, garbled slightly by the sound of the chopper's wings, rattled on in sheer shock.

"This's Rei Takaoka reporting in now with shocking news. It appears as if the fight is not over yet for the Power Rangers! The giant crystal robot they had knocked into the San Angeles Bay yesterday appears to have crawled out of its resting place and is now taking a few breathers here on Three Mile Island. Oh gosh! It's spotted us! Keep that camera rolling! Hopefully Operation Overdrive is catching our coverage right now! This's exclusive footage of yesterday's giant jewel monster, apparently waiting for round two!"

From the hallway, Hartford could hear the sounds of Sentinel Knight charging upstairs. "Everyone! Everyone downstairs!" The hallways filled with the sounds of footsteps clamoring downstairs.

"What's going on…?" Hartford asked Spencer. The Gyro Alarm further prodded at his curiosity. "They won't be the only spies around here…" Andrew slowly slid off the couch and made his way downstairs.

"We're already on our way, Moltor!" Flurious announced over the comlink in his mecha. "We're about fifty miles off shore and…what's that?"

"Ha, I see it, too!" Moltor shouted.

"Ugh, you were already out here?" Flurious shouted.

"I was getting restless from all this waiting you've made me do!" Moltor shouted from his mecha. "What is that thing? Your little glass sculpture from yesterday?"

"I tried to activate it earlier, but it just flatlined, and now it's thirty miles southwest from where it was."

"I smell the desert around here…the Red Ranger must've seized control of it somehow!" Benglo shouted.

"What do you mean by that, you flea-bitten furball?" Moltor demanded.

"Benglo says the Red Ranger has acquired the scent of an open desert…whatever that means. If he's right, then we're going to have to knock that Power Brat out've it!" Mig seemed jubilant at the prospect. "We'll shatter that glass bell around him and take the Jewel for ourselves!"

"You will? You're piloting my robot!" Flurious stated. "I should at least gain possession of the Jewel on weekends."

"Not if I get a hold of it first!" Moltor shouted. "Now outta my way!" He launched several Lavadactyls at Bardiel.

_Garnet, the giant raptor-like robot is launching Lavadactyls at us! We may want to take some action right about now!_

"Good point." Mack replied, standing up. "First, we have to protect that news chopper. They'll probably devour that poor thing if we don't." He turned to face the chopper. "Bardiel, I want you to let my voice project out to them."

_You mean like a stereo system?_

"Yes."

_Right on it! Alright, go!_

"Get out of here! Now!" Mack started waving to them. "Those things will crush you if you don't leave immediately!" The chopper seemed to get the point, as it began flying back towards the city.

_Okay, no more vocal projections now that that's done. That was way too much effort for such a small banana sort of thing. Now, what shall we do?_

"Charge the solar ray. We're going to turn these Lavadactyls to toast."

_Okay, but just remember to aim at them through your chest. It's a funny thing to do, but that's where the beam fires out, alright?_

"It'd be a lot more awkward if the others were here. Now charge up."

_No need to bark orders, Garnet. Your will is my action._

The solar ray began charging as Bardiel chimed in.

_Good news, Garnet! I'm sensing that the Flashpoint Megazord and the Battlefleet Megazord are approaching fast in our direction, and should be here in about a minute or so._

"That's really great news. I want you to open a comlink with them in three minutes."

_Will do!_

Meanwhile at the Mansion, Hartford watched at Sentinel Knight led the remaining Rangers into battle. He caught the Sentinel Knight off guard as he walked in and asked him the burning question. "So, Mack is out there now, isn't he?"

"Andrew, you should be resting. Everything is fine."

"I won't rest if Mack is in trouble. This is my fault, and if anything more happens to him, I'll regret it for a very long time. Now, is that him out there?"

"We don't know. We presume so. I presume so. His energy signature is out there, so I guess it's true."

"What's going on?"

Sentinel Knight sighed. "He…early this morning, Bardiel started up again, that robot out there. Mack insisted that he go out there to stop it, and he managed to. Now, I guess, he's taken full control of it. I don't understand it much myself, but now there are three robots surrounding it, and we're going to get Mack out of that giant crystalline machine and bring him back before anyone can harm him. Don't worry."

"I am." Hartford walked over to the chair and sat down in it. "I want to know everything. Pull the battle up on screen."

"And just what do you three think you're doing?" Ronny shouted as they formed the Battlefleet Megazord on land. The Flashpoint Megazord dashed from land and over the bay to the island just as Bardiel's solar ray pierced the air and tore through the Lavadactyls like a hot knife through butter, sending them crashing into the water and onto the ground.

"Nice shot, Mack!" Tyzonn shouted.

A crackling sound came over both the Battlefleet and Flashpoint's comlinks. "Why, thank you." Mack's voice replied. "Good morning, guys. Sorry if I scared you earlier this morning. I was feeling a little crazy. But I got some fresh air and some exercise, and I'm ready to go."

"Mack?" Ronny commented, her voice sounding unsure.

"Hey Ronny." His voice sounded less energetic and more solemn. "No need to pay me back for anything, okay? No need to save me. We're in this all together."

"Pay you…?" It hit Ronny then and there. "I won't." Her voice broke slightly. "Alright. Mack's with us. Let's trash these idiots and call it a day."

Mack surveyed the battlefield, examining his enemies. The one to the far left reminded him of a raptor with a saddle on. The 'saddle' supported a pair of laser cannons on its sides, as well as some sort of roost for the Lavadactyls on the top. The one in the middle was clearly the Fearcats' mecha, as it reminded him of a tiger on two legs…well, if a tiger on two legs had long blades on its forearms and two missile silos on its shoulders. The last one to the right was a rather short and headless mecha with a giant laser cannon where the head should have been and two arms ending in giant mallets. It almost reminded Mack of a demented sort of tank.

_I've analyzed their weapons. Relaying the specs._

"Like I understand specs." Mack sheepishly commented. "Rose usually translates those for me, and I just smash things up."

_Well, I'll try to make sense of them up here, as I really have no idea what they mean either…_

"Transmit them to Rose's console, then."

_So we're just going to smash things up? What are we, five years old?_

"About 2,300 years, actually. Close enough, though." Mack grinned.

"Hey, I'm getting weapons schematics from Bardiel." Rose commented. "Okay…everyone, you got me loud and clear?" She called out over the comlink.

"I can hear you perfectly." Tyzonn complied.

"Reading ya crystalline clear." Mack jokingly replied.

"That middle mecha has heat-seeking missiles in those silos. Mack…I'm a bit worried about that."

"I'll try to regulate temperature, but the sun's up, so I might have a problem with that." Mack replied.

"We'll work with that."

"Anything on the others?" Will asked.

"The rest are your run of the mill laser cannons. Same ones as usual."

"Alright, everyone, we need a plan." Will replied.

"Plan? Plan? Seriously?" Mack asked, sounding a bit agitated. "Let's get this over with! I'm starved!" Mack ran at Moltor's mecha and, in a quick jump and turn, landed on its back. "Yee haw!" Mack shouted, grabbing the roost like a handle and began riding the mecha like a bull as it flailed around, trying to get Bardiel off of it.

"What are you, insane?" Will shouted.

"I got this one! You get the other two!" He shouted.

"Get off of me, you idiot!" Moltor shouted as he began firing off his cannons. Most of the shots flew into the sky, but one struck Flurious's zord.

"Hey, you hot-headed moron! Watch where you're aiming those!" Flurious growled.

"Get this idiot off of me!"

"I'll handle this." Mig replied calmly, shifting the controls towards Moltor and Mack. The Flashpoint charged at the Fearcat mecha, grabbing its left arm blade just in time to prevent it from striking Bardiel.

"I don't think so." Tyzonn thundered in a fierce voice. He then fired off a burst of water from the water jets, which began boring holes into the hull of the mecha.

"Ha! Take this!" Mig fired off several rockets at Bardiel.

The missiles scattered in confusion, unsure of which target to hit. Several smashed into Bardiel's head and torso, and the rest crashed into Moltor. Mack winced and clamped tighter to the silo, crushing it and making it impossible for more Lavadactyls to leave. Crystalline fragments showered down, leaving holes in Bardiel the size of cannonballs.

Mack clutched his chest with his free hand, his exuberance noticeably absent. "I'm bleeding, I think." Mack replied, holding his hand out in front of him. It was blood, indeed. "Okay, so this isn't going well."

"Alright, Flurious, you're ours!" The Battlefleet ran at top speed towards Flurious's mecha, its right roller fist rotating at optimum speed as it smashed into the cannon head.

"WOOHOO!" Ronny shouted as the cannon sparked. "How'd that work out? Did we disable it?"

"Well, the cannon's losing power, but we've still got those arms to deal with." Rose reported.

"Eh, no big problem!" Ronny replied. As if challenging her statement, the right arm of Flurious's robot flew at them, slamming them in the torso and sending them flying a good fifty feet and landing on their back. "Okay, so it's a little problem…but nothing we can't handle!"

Tyzonn began punching the Fearcats' mecha furiously, aiming mostly at its head and the silos. "Aw, the little Mercurian is angry at us!" Mig taunted. They swiped at Flashpoint, carving lines into its torso. "Back off, brat!"

"Not when my friends's life is at stake!" Tyzonn used the pull lever and used its retractable legs to bounce into the air, landing on top of the Fearcats' mecha. The Fearcats seized the ankles of Flashpoint and tossed him forwards, sending him crashing into Bardiel and Moltor's mecha.

"Tyzonn! You okay?" Mack asked him, picking him up as Moltor swerved to the left.

"I'm fine."

"I'll get Moltor's cannons for you guys."

"Thanks."

Mack began kicking at the cannons, knocking one offline and the other completely loose. "Curse you, Red Ranger!" Moltor shouted.

"What? You're not having fun anymore?" Mack chided.

"GET OFF!" He roared, bucking so hard, that Bardiel rolled off his back and tumbled into the water.

Mack got up and sneered. "Bardiel, solar cannon."

_I was about to suggest it, too. Charging as we speak._

"Fire on command." Mack quickly got up and charged at the giant raptor. He leaped in the air and tackled the metal beast to the ground, pinning it against the turf. "Now!"

The giant Garnet Sun replica on Bardiel glowed, giving Moltor enough warning to evacuate before it fired, blowing the head off the raptor robot and overloading the circuits with pure energy. The rest of the robot exploded violently, sending Bardiel flying into the ocean with a great deal of damage done and several bits of shrapnel embedded in its torso.

Ronny guided the Battlefleet into a rapid succession of clean punches on Flurious's mecha, then turned the zord around to face Bardiel. "Mack! Are you okay over there?" She got no response. "Mack!"

Hartford jumped out of his seat as he listened to the transmission. He turned the transmitter on and began to shout. "Mack! Get up!"

Mack looked to the island and raised a hand, letting them know that he was fine. "Look who decided to join the party." Mack chided. Hartford sighed. "Yeah, you. I hear you, Andrew. I'm getting up, but not for you."

Mack slowly rose from the water around him, then began pulling the long bars of shrapnel out of himself, with Bardiel following suit. "I can't use my cannon, but I can still fight."

"Get back here, Mack!" Hartford was furious. "I don't care if you hate me or not, but I'm concerned for your safety! That thing's taken too many hits-"

"This thing is helping me." Mack cut him off, feeling insulted. "Thanks for the concern, but I don't need it."

Tyzonn ran to stand between the Fearcats' mecha and Bardiel, taking several long slashes to the chest. Sparks danced around the cockpit, but Tyzonn was tenacious. "Is that all?" A mean right hook to the mecha's face knocked the fearsome machine back, and Tyzonn followed it up with his cannons, which sent the mecha flying into Flurious's mecha.

"Thanks, Ty!" Rose said, waving at him.

"Not a problem." Bardiel walked out of the water and stood beside Flashpoint. "You okay, Mack?"

"I'm fine. Just…need to recover a bit." Mack replied.

"Don't worry. I've got you covered."

Battlefleet smashed its fists into Flurious's mecha's chest, prompting a quick reply of a fist to the face followed by a laser. The Battlefleet tipped over once more, crashing to the same spot it had before.

"Oh, this isn't funny." Ronny commented, hoisting the Battlefleet back up on its feet. "Roller fists, full power!" She pulled a left hook for its abdomen, the second blow for it face, and a final two fisted punch for its chest, knocking out the gyro inside Flurious's mecha.

"Blast!" Flurious shouted. "Work, you damn gyro, work!"

Tyzonn followed up with a quick blast from his cannons, finally tipping the heavy mecha over. "Ugh, I can't get up…"

"Well, isn't that just a classic line?" Benglo taunted.

"I've had enough of you little brats! Time for some real fighting!" Mig growled, pressing a button that extended the already long arm blades.

"We got this one!" Will stated, charging up in front of the mecha. They charged up a roller fist and swung, but the claw sunk into its wrist, effectively shutting the whole roller action down. "Damn! It's embedded deep!"

"I'll try to shake it loose!" Dax replied, making the Battlefleet kick upwards at the mecha's arm. The arm was knocked loose, but the damage had been done. "Well, we still got the left roller fist remaining. We'd better save that one."

"We haven't forgotten you, Red Ranger!" They launched off a volley of missiles in his direction.

"Get behind me! I have an idea." Tyzonn ordered. Mack complied, shuffling Bardiel behind Flashpoint. "Low pressure jet stream, coming up!" Tyzonn turned the Flashpoint around and fired streams of water at Bardiel, cooling his outer hull down.

"Oh man, a nice shower. Where's the shampoo when I need it?" Mack joked.

It seemed as through the crisis had been averted, but the missiles streaked around the Flashpoint and slammed into the back and sides of Bardiel. Mack cried out in pain as the impacts stung his skin and drilled holes through his jacket and into his skin. He cloistered and fell forwards against the Flashpoint.

"Tyzonn! Drag Mack back here immediately!" Hartford ordered.

"It's too risky to leave the others here!" Tyzonn shouted back.

"I won't abandon them either!" Mack added. "I am no more important than them, no matter how much you think differently."

The Fearcats charged at Flashpoint, driving their blade straight into the water tank. An explosion of water knocked the blade out and knocked the mecha back a couple dozen meters.

"I've lost all pressure! There's no way I'm going to be able to fire my jets again!"

"That's okay, he's open! We're going for it!" Will replied. With the left roller fist, he smashed the torso of the Fearcats' mecha in.

"Critical damage to the gyro! It's gonna blow!" Benglo warned.

"One last shot." Mig coldly replied, aiming at Bardiel. He locked on and fired, then grabbed Benglo and leaped from the cockpit.

"Dammit!" Ronny shouted. "Tyzonn!"

"I've got you covered, Mack." Tyzonn stated, turning around and taking a defensive stance.

"Not this time." Mack shoved the Flashpoint away from him. "I've had enough of this." He braced for impact as the missile volley rocketed straight for him.


	11. Chapter Ten: Freedom Of Choice

"Daydreaming again, Master Mack

"_Daydreaming again, Master Mack?"_

_A pair of light blue eyes peered upwards at the warmly smiling butler who stood above the fallen form of his current babysitting task. _

"_Ugh, I gotta stop having such amazing daydreams." Mack laughed as he pushed himself off the ground and got to sitting in the hammock._

"_And what was the amazing daydream today, young sir?" Spencer replied, sitting down next to him. Mack stuck his bookmark inside his book and sat it on the hammock next to him._

"_It was amazing!" Mack said, his voice filling with an awed tone as his eyes widened. "I was riding camelback across a moonlit desert oasis in some faraway land, and there were constellations I can't even remember the names of shining in the sky. I remember stopping at a cliff, and there was a camp below me, men gathered all around a fire speaking a language I can't remember for the life of me. It was all so…exciting to think of a place so vividly, to pretend I had been there."_

"_I'm sure it was." Spencer smiled, leaving behind a mild twitch of something morose behind it. "Now, it's getting cold and dark out, Mack. Would you like to come in, or shall I fetch you a warm blanket and a pillow so you can sleep outside again?"_

"_I think I wanna sleep on the roof tonight, to see Aries cross the meridian before I finally punch out to count sheep." Mack smiled and laughed softly, then appeared to show signs of sudden lethargy. "Maybe I won't be awake to see it. I'm not sure."_

"_Sir? Is something troubling you?" Spencer asked almost instinctively. _

"…_No."_

"_Mack…" Spencer gave his scolding tone, which Mack easily buckled under._

"_I wanna go out tonight. I'm forgetting what the buildings of San Angeles look like at night again."_

"_You know your father's rules, Master Mack. Two days a week. Do you really want to waste one on a rather boring Sunday night?"_

"_Yes. I remember the last time I went out at night; we're not allowed at that dance club anymore or that restaurant, no thanks to you or dad just popping up out of nowhere and scaring the hell out of me." Mack sulked, then began to look tired again. "Besides…it's been too long since I've really had any sort of real adventure without a hassle. What would be better than going out when there's bound to not be a lot of people out?"_

_Spencer sighed. "Mack…" He stopped, not knowing where to start his response. "I understand that you want to go places, but your father's rules are ones that both of us have to follow. I don't have the luxury of being his child; if I don't follow them, I could be looking for a new job." Mack fell against the hammock on his right side, then rolled onto his back. "Now, I hate to see you upset, but I promise that we can go out tomorrow night before your father comes home. In fact, I suppose that I can even drag you along for the ride when I go to pick him up from the airport."_

"_Really?" Mack sat up, his eyes lighting up like aquamarines. _

"_You can join me if you can dress appropriately this time, and not in torn up jeans, shoes held together with duct tape, and teeshirts with inappropriate things on them."_

"_Hey, that shirt had a double entendre there with the squirrel. I thought it was hilarious, and so did quite a few girls."_

"_They were quite intoxicated by the time they had made their way from the bar to you, sir."_

_Mack laughed softly. "I guess." He smiled softly as Spencer got up._

"_Is that all, sir?"_

"…_Yeah." Mack shook his head convincingly, which prompted Spencer to smile._

"_I suppose then I could go in to grab your sleeping bag then. I think that would be a better choice for tonight."_

"_Yeah…" Mack weakly half-smiled as Spencer turned away. _

_Spencer walked away and counted to ten, promptly stopping exactly on the point when Mack called out his name. _

"…_Spencer?" _

_The tone itself was the same as it always was; forlorn and dejected, with a hint of inner sorrow. This was the part Spencer could never get used to._

"_Yes, Master Mack?" He replied, turning around to face him._

_It was the same look on his face that he got whenever he began this chain of questions. It was such a physical and emotional pain to go through this, but it's what he did._

"_Do you think dad'll take me on his next trip?"_

_Spencer felt as if he were an actor, reciting the scene perfectly. "I'm not sure."_

"_Does he think I'll get hurt again?"_

"_Perhaps."_

"_Well, I've been practicing rock climbing, and combing through rough terrains over in the rock quarry near the factory and-"_

"_Your father would have a heart attack if he knew you were out there without me supervising you!"_

"_Why do I need constant supervision? I'm an adult, and I can handle myself! I fell out of a damn tree, and besides one…fairly small thing, I'm perfectly fine!" Mack had leaped up from his hammock and begun flailing his arms wildly in anger. He took a few breaths and he noticed that Spencer had no cue card-type answer. "…You don't know either, do you?"_

"_I suppose it's more a fear of what could happen more than the reality that it might never happen. We were both quite worried about you, but I suppose the incident's gotten the better of him."_

"_I wish he could trust me to be able to go out there with him and help him. I want to go out there too, to find the Corona Aurora."_

"_You'd wish to chase a fairy tale, sir?"_

"_Doesn't everyone?"_

Spencer blinked a few times and realized that he had scrubbed a hotspot into the pan he was washing. He stared at the grind marks in the surface for half a minute, then set the pan behind him on the counter. It was an old pan anyways, and he could always get another. He sighed, then moved onto the next dish in line for scrubbing.

Tyzonn idly planted zinnias in the empty hydroponic garden shelf in his room. He went through the motions, perfectly executing everything with no thought of the process. As he finished watering them, he continued on to water the daisies and petunias below them, taking little joy in the act. As he finished, he sat down on his bed and stared at them with a blank mind. He sighed deeply and looked down at the floor.

Dax channel surfed down in the living room, not staying on any channel longer than a few seconds, finding distaste in everything on. Rose walked in, idly looking over the mythology book she had been reading the other day. She sat down on the floor, her back turned to Dax. He watched her shuffle through the pages frantically, stopping suddenly when she got a papercut in her haste. Her breathing hitched and she began crying heavily, much more than she should have over a small cut. Dax frowned and grabbed the first aid kit that had been left on the table.

He opened it up and grabbed the antibiotic gel and a bandaid, but when he reached for her hand, she swatted him away. "There's no use…" She muttered, slightly pulling herself inwards.

"Yes, there is. I'm in a bad mood too, so just give me your hand." Dax replied. "I'm not letting another friend wreck themselves today if I can help it."

Rose, surprised by Dax's tone, gave him her hand, and he quickly put the gel and bandaid down on her cut. "It's no use anyways," She muttered. "like he cares about us."

Dax smiled. "I think there was a little…glimmer of hope." Rose looked up at him in wonder. "I mean, I felt something different this morning. Something…something I was missing. Didn't you?"

Rose looked down. "Do you think…?"

"Mmm."

Rose wiped her eyes. "It doesn't matter now anyways." Dax sighed.

Will finished off his game of pool and walked upstairs to Ronny's room. He knocked on the door softly, waiting for a response and getting none. "Ronny? You awake?" He called out.

"Go away." Her voice was soft and faint, even for the fact that the door muffled her voice a bit. Will kicked in his super hearing, and he could hear her breathing hitching slightly, along with a music box faintly playing an old tune.

"Ronny, you can't stay up here all day. At least grab something to eat."

"Go bug somebody else, you jerk." She snapped. Will frowned.

"I'm coming back up at lunchtime to get you, whether you like it or not." Will walked back downstairs to find Spencer looking at him. "She's being difficult. I'm gonna need my magnetic pen and my grappling hook."

"Wouldn't you rather use a ladder, sir?"

"That'll work, too."

Andrew Hartford sat upon the roof of the house, looking out to the vast forest separating his mansion from San Angeles. The wind rustled through his hair as he tried to focus his thoughts. He curled up in a ball and looked down at the burn mark left two years ago by Mack, feeling a sense of regret that grew larger as his eyes locked onto it.

_Perhaps if I had done something different…the rangers were right. Maybe if I had done something…something sooner…_

He sighed deeply and lied back, looking at the sky.

"Sir?" He sat up and looked down. "Sir, Master Will requires the ladder in a short while. I am just calling up to let you know."

"I'm coming down now anyways." He softly replied, slowly pushing himself up and towards the ladder, then slowly making his way down. "What's he need the ladder for?"

"He's planning to extricate Ronny from her bedroom, as she has locked herself in and refused to leave."

"Tell him to leave her alone." He replied, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Sir?"

"If she doesn't want to be bothered, don't bother her." He then began making his way inside.

He slowly walked down to the Command Center, every step slower than the last. The stairwell still bared patches of rapidly disappearing garnet crystal, glimmering in the soft light like a bad omen. His mind kept rolling back to earlier in the morning; the screams, the panic, the shock.

Ronny had quickly left the room, retreating to her own bedroom and not to be heard from again. One by one, they all left for somewhere in the mansion. Will had been the last one to leave, as he had volunteered to help Hartford set up a makeshift stretcher and line it with crates to keep what was left of Mack's blood supply from covering the floor.

It didn't seem much of a problem now, as the more deteriorated Mack's body became, the quicker the garnet crystal began to sublimate, disappearing from sight and eventually from detection, as if it never had existed. Even Bardiel was nothing more than a fifty foot mini-hill of crushed crystals an hour ago, probably even less now at this point.

"_We'll be lucky if the Jewel's still intact."_

Will's words seemed sardonic and insulting at the time, but they had become ingrained in Hartford's thoughts and become his own hope. As long as the core of Mack remained…

Hartford turned the corner to find little more than a wide topless arc of what had been Mack's torso sitting upon the stretcher, everything having lost its general luster except for one part in the top half.

Hartford walked over slowly, feeling sick to his stomach as he approached the stretcher. He reached out and touched the soft and shiny surface, and found shock to feel warmth softly radiating under his fingertips. His eyes widened and his hand clamped around the perfect-looking circle. He gave a soft tug, and the garnet material gave up easily, practically retracting as he pulled.

The garnet material suddenly sublimated en masse, leaving only what he had pulled out remaining. He gasped in shock at both the rapidness of the disappearing and the realization that in his hand was all that remained of Mack, the Garnet Sun, in whole.

No longer broken, the smoothed-down, disk-like centerpiece was perfectly round and engulfed his palm. The eight prongs were perfectly separated, giving the whole thing an artisan-crafted look.

The realization and utter nauseating thoughts of what it took to hold it in his hand overcame his natural interest, and Hartford set it down and began breathing heavily, his eyes burning in the backs of their sockets. He could only imagine Ronny's condition, as he was the one who seemed so numb to it all beside Will early in the morning.

He heard footsteps behind him, and he calmed himself rather quickly as Will arrived. "Mr. Hartford…?" Will poked his head in, spotting both the pale Hartford and the Garnet Sun. Hartford just looked at him, waiting for the rest. "…Is that it?" Hartford just nodded. "…Oh. Well, what are we going to do now?" He asked, walking over and picking up the Jewel. "It feels warm…is it supposed to?"

"It probably absorbed the residual heat from the lights." Hartford quickly rattled off, avoiding the thought.

"Yeah." Will looked it over. "It's really amazing, how perfect it looks after everything. I'm surprised that it didn't even get chipped." Hartford scoffed in a disgusted tone, obviously not caring. "Should…I bring this upstairs?"

"Parade around a corpse?" Hartford asked. "Isn't that a bit early for something like that?"

"Just thought we could get it over with, instead of upsetting people with it later." Hartford thought about it, then nodded his head in approval and waved him upstairs. Will grabbed one of the tattered scarves out of the discarded pile and wrapped the Garnet Sun up in it before walking upstairs.

Will slowly walked into the living room, where Rose, Dax, and now Tyzonn resided, silently sitting around like statues decorating the room. They slowly looked up at him, waiting for him to speak. "Well, if there's any good news at all…" They got up and gathered around him, like beggar children waiting for a coin or crumb of bread. He looked down and unwrapped the scarf, revealing the Garnet Sun. "The Jewel's at least in one piece."

Their eyes widened in shock, both from the joy that the Garnet Sun survived, and the realization that it was all that remained of their former leader. Dax, fighting his impulses, slowly reached out and touched it with the tip of his index finger. "It's real, alright. Would you guys like to look it over before Hartford safeguards it?"

"Is that the Garnet Sun?" Sentinel Knight asked as he walked down the corridor.

"Would you like to see?" Will asked, turning towards him. Sentinel Knight shuffled over and looked down. "How fortunate that it's intact." Sentinel Knight picked it up and let the light from a nearby light shine through it as he examined it.

"That's what I told Hartford, but he's really torn up about Mack." Will replied. "I miss Mack as much as everyone else, but Mack's still the Garnet Sun, right? He's still here with us."

"I guess you're right." Rose perked up. "Besides, he wouldn't want us to worry about him. Isn't that what he said to us?"

"Yeah." Dax replied, staring up at the Garnet Sun.

"…You guys are horrible." The group looked over at Ronny, whose voice warbled even when scolding them. "Mack's not a trophy…" She gave a pained look and walked back up to her room silently, locking her bedroom door behind herself.

The group looked at each other, then silently decided to send Rose and Tyzonn up with the Garnet Sun in tow.

Rose gently knocked on Ronny's door. "What?" Ronny cried out, her voice cracking.

"We just wanted to come up and say we're sorry." Rose replied.

"Would you like to give some last respects?" Tyzonn added. Rose elbowed him in the ribs roughly. "Ow…" He then thought of a rebound line. "I'm sorry…I meant that as a joke."

"I'm tired." Ronny grumbled. "Go away."

"Well, we'll be downstairs in the living room if you get enough rest, okay?" Rose replied, trying to be supportive. She didn't get a response, so she silently led Tyzonn back downstairs.

"Let's just stay here in the living room." Rose said to the group. "I'll go bring this downstairs." She then made her way into the Command Center.

Rose placed the Garnet Sun on the table next to the tracking console, as she didn't know where else to put it. She sighed and sat down in the rolling chair, thinking. She noticed that the room looked clean now; not even the scarves had a trace of Mack left on them anymore.

She rolled around in the chair to see Hartford curled up in the corner, back against the wall, his face pale. She got up and slowly walked over to him.

"Hey, Mr. Hartford," She greeted him, making him look up at her. "you feeling okay?"

"I think I've been better." He replied, trying to laugh.

"Heh." She smiled. "I know what you mean." She said, kneeling down next to him.

"You're handling this all so well…" Hartford replied, looking down at the floor between them.

"I guess I've never been much of a crying person when it comes to tragedies like this." Rose replied. "I find that it helps to talk about it. Do you wanna just…let it all out at me? I wouldn't mind." She offered.

Hartford turned to her and looked at her, his eyes welling up with tears. He then reached out to her and pulled her in a tight embrace as he rested his head on her shoulder. Rose gave him an awkward look. "Well, this wasn't quite what I meant but okay…" She pat his back comfortingly and waited for him to stop crying.

Hours went by, and the night rolled in. Everyone had solemnly gone to bed, each feeling as though sleep would save them somehow. It was nearly midnight when any sign of life seemed to stir in the Command Center, which startled the Sentinel Knight.

He had taken it upon himself to be the night watchman, now that Mack no longer roamed the halls at night. The sound of the rolling chair moving drew his attention, and he slowly made his way downstairs, trying to sneak up on whatever it was that was making the sounds.

He was surprised to see the light on downstairs, and he had the fear that an intruder had slipped under his radar. He threw up his hands to fight as he hit the bottom of the steps, which caused whatever had been moving around to stop.

Sentinel Knight looked around to see if everything was still there, and he gasped at the lack of the Garnet Sun, which had been in a protective holding field on the lab table until Hartford got around to putting it in a final holding space. He moved towards the Zord bay door, knowing that anyone who tried to escape had only one way out through an emergency escape hatch in the bay. He saw a slight movement behind the Dump Driver, and found it odd that the intruder was moving away from the hatch.

The sound of charging bare feet gave the intruder's position away, and Sentinel Knight pounced, tackling the intruder just as they turned the corner around the Dump Driver. His eyes widened when he saw who he had tackled.

Besides subtle nuances in hair style and eye color, an exact copy of Mack lied squashed beneath him, wearing little more than a lab coat. "Hey hey hey, off!" Mack whined, trying to push Sentinel Knight off. "You're crushing me!" Sentinel Knight quickly got up and helped Mack to his feet, then stood in awe as Mack brushed himself off. "I'm still fairly easy to bruise, you know. I just fixed myself up and everything." Mack scolded, giving Sentinel Knight a dirty look.

"How did…" Sentinel Knight didn't know how to continue.

"How did…I do this?" Mack tried to finish the sentence. He didn't wait for a confirmation. "Well see, I wasn't going to waste my energy to bring myself back, but then…I could hear a lot of people's thoughts, wishing I'd come back. You know how I can't deny a good wish when I hear it." Mack grinned slyly.

"Normally I'd feel the need to scold you about this sort of thing but…" He sighed happily. "'You picked a heck of a time to stick to your guns', as the Rangers would say." Sentinel Knight joked.

Mack smiled, then shivered. "Alright, I'm going upstairs. It's too cold down here." He began to walk, but Sentinel Knight grabbed his arm. "What?"

Sentinel Knight swiftly picked Mack up and carried him out of the Zord Bay. "You are still my responsibility, and your well-being at the moment is compromised. I will carry you upstairs so that you don't have to walk on the cold floor."

"It's not the big of a deal, Sentinel Knight. I can walk just fine, and it's not that cold." Mack replied as he tried squirming out of Sentinel Knight's grip.

"This is my sworn duty as protector of the Corona Aurora, and not even your protest shall stop me from keeping you in pristine shape and the top tier of comfort." Sentinel Knight replied.

"Great, now I've got myself a bodyguard." Mack rolled his eyes.

"I suppose today's tragedy hasn't informed you that you need one sometimes?" Sentinel Knight replied, sounding serious.

Mack sighed as Sentinel Knight took the service elevator and carried him up to his room as quietly as he could.

Several hours later, just as the sun was starting to rise, Mack slowly strolled down the stairs in his uniform pants, black socks, and black shirt, stopping at the bottom of the stairs only when he saw Sentinel Knight.

"Good morning, Mack." Sentinel Knight greeted. "Did you sleep well?"

Mack half smiled. "Sleep? Me sleeping is just an illusion." He waved his hands in front of his face, wiggling his fingers a bit. "It's a chameleon response to night. I hardly even try to dream while I'm doing it, anyways."

"Well then…were you comfortable?"

"Of course. Fluffed up goose down pillow and linen sheets? One of the best ways to lounge about on the planet." Mack then pushed his arm aside and began walking towards the kitchen.

"What're you going to do?"

Mack gave him an odd look. "Um, get some breakfast?"

"You don't need to eat though, do you? Or is this just a…'chameleon response' to 'waking up'?"

"Well technically, I could live completely off of sunlight, but my body can break down most foods in the same way a human's does. I'm pretty good at mimicking human life, I gotta say." Mack winked. "Besides, it's fun to have a routine that involves something unnecessary, like eating, sleeping, jogging, or any of that fun stuff. In fact, everything besides my daily 'reading outside on the hammock' routine is unnecessary, and I don't even need the book."

"So, you're choosing to just go through all these 'chameleon responses' because it's fun…" Sentinel Knight mused. "You're a strange being, Mackenzie Hartford."

Mack's warm and smiley disposition suddenly faded, sliding down behind a look of sudden clarity. He let out a brief laugh before he crouched down to the floor, randomly letting out a few more one-note laughs before he was sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"I guess…I am making my own choices, aren't I?" He asked softly.

"You are."

He laughed softly again, then Mack smiled in the same sort of amazed way he had been acting. "So…do you think I've been fulfilling Berenice's wishes all along?"

"Of course, if her wish was what you had told Hartford it was."

A heartfelt smile spread across his face, and he looked back up to Sentinel Knight. "I feel so strange. I was doing exactly what she wanted all along, and I never thought I was…"

"Well, succeeding at being human without trying is quite the achievement, isn't it?"

"It is, isn't it?" Mack asked, blushing.

"Yes it is. Now, if you're going to have breakfast, you can't just sit on the floor and expect the food to come to you." Sentinel Knight picked Mack off the floor and carried him to a seat at the small table in the kitchen.

Almost an hour later, the majority of the house members were rudely awakened by a loud shouting. Rose, Will, Dax, and Tyzonn rushed out of their rooms, quickly running into a dashing Spencer, and all of them converged into the kitchen, to find Ronny beating on Mack.

"You! Stupid! ASS!" She shouted as she rapidly beat and against his chest in an emotional rage. "Why are you here?!" She shouted as she slowed down, slowly collapsing into tears. "Why did you do that to us…?" She began to cry, and Mack grabbed her arms to keep her from dropping to her knees. She let her forehead drop against his chest as she cried.

Mack saw that the others had arrived, and he gave a weak half smile. "Um…good morning, everyone?" He responded coyly.

Rose let out a sound of disbelief, then ran over to embrace him. The boys then walked over to them and smiled.

Dax lightly poked his shoulder. "Wow! You're…you're alive!" Dax exclaimed. "…Sorry."

"That's okay. I had the feeling that I was gonna get a lot of that today." Mack smiled weakly. "I guess you're the only one, huh?"

"I'm guessing that we don't have to remind you of who we are?" Will asked.

"Nope. I remember everyone just fine now." Mack replied. "I realized that the memory lock had to do with myself…I guess that now that I have a new body, the lock's gone, too." He laughed quickly. "I gotta say, it's such a relief to look at someone and remember everything about them. I haven't had that happen to me in…well, a year and a half." He half-smiled. "So…does anyone wanna just sit down and have breakfast with me?"

"I do!" The entire group, save for Sentinel Knight and Spencer, called out synchronously while raising their hands in the air.

"I suppose that I should get back to my daily routine." Spencer replied, straightening out his collar. "How about a beef and potato hash for breakfast? Today is a day to disregard one's health in lieu of certain circumstances, anyways."

The group turned around and smiled at him, which gave him the cue to get to cooking.

Twenty minutes later…

"So there I was, in 110 degree heat, with little more than a wood-and-metal shield, several javelins about my height, and light leather armor to protect me against a fortress full of men on camelback with bows and arrows…" Mack rattled on, the entire group enthralled with his retelling of one of his favorite battles that he had been in in his former life. "I mean, there were about 3,000 of us out there, but those camels were pretty intimidating to us then."

"Not to mention that camels reek." Dax replied.

"Ugh, the smell. And it's that kind've smell you just can't wash off, either." Mack stuck his tongue out, giving a grossed out face.

"Anyways…" Rose said, trying to get them back on track.

"Yeah, so at the beginning of the fight, we skirmishers and the archers began to feign a retreat. I had suggested to Alexander that if it looked like we were running for the hills, the enemy might drop his guard. So, all of us long range units put on our best acting faces and climbed up into alcoves screaming in terror. It was kinda funny, because some guys were better at it than others."

"Did they buy it?" Ronny asked, shoveling a hunk of potato into her mouth with an interested look on her face.

"Oh, they bought it like it was on sale at the dollar store!" Mack replied. "They may've been a powerful army, but they weren't too bright."

"This's gotta get made into a movie…" Dax mused out loud. "We'd make millions, no, billions!"

"So they charged right into our trap, and we ran outta the alcoves and caught them completely off guard with only a few casualties. Before they could fire back, we had already gotten a good number of them. And then the cataphracts started charging, and that scared them even more, and they were completely routed within minutes."

"You guys really kicked some Roman-style tail!" Dax exclaimed.

"Well, it wasn't over yet." Mack replied. "Because we started to hear a rumbling in the distance. And before we knew it, we saw elephants charging at us." His eyes widened. "I mean, I had heard about elephants before, but I had never seen one before, so I was really terrified. I thought it was a demon at first, the way it trumpeted and swung around its tusks…" Mack shivered.

"It was quite a sight to see him react to them the first time Mr. Hartford and I brought him to a zoo." Spencer chuckled.

"Hey, the kids thought I was funny." Mack replied, giving him a humorous look.

The group realized that they were being watched, and they looked up to see a rather tired Hartford standing in the doorway, staring at Mack.

"Good morning, Mr. Hartford," Mack said, sticking one of his home fries in his mouth and chewing quickly. "I see that I managed to leave you in one piece." He smirked.

A dense cloud of awkwardness filled the air as Hartford silently sauntered in, going into the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. "Sir, go relax." Hartford slammed the fridge door slightly in response and left.

The air of tension hung for several moments, with all eyes looking over at Mack. He looked around the table, then shoved another home fry in his mouth.

After he finished chewing, he swallowed quickly. "What? Were you expecting more small talk?" He asked, taking a sip of his lemonade.

They all gave looks in varying degrees of uncertainty, but it was Rose who spoke up. "Well, it was unexpected, if anything. I guess we're not used to it." The group agreed with her as they gave reassuring nods and looks.

"Oh, okay. Good. I didn't want it to be too awkward." He half-smiled and put his now-empty dish and glass in the sink.

Sentinel Knight followed Mack out as the young man made his way upstairs. At the top, he suddenly stopped. "Is something wrong, Mack?" Sentinel Knight asked.

"A thought just crossed my mind…" He muttered. "I have one last thing to do."

"What shall you have me do?" Sentinel Knight asked.

"I want you to get everyone in the living room. I'll be down in a minute."

Ten minutes later, while the Rangers, Spencer, and Sentinel Knight all sat around and talked about the morning thus far, they were greeted by a somewhat familiar figure.

Mack stood in the doorway, dressed in an outfit more fitting in a jungle savannah in his pith hat and khaki jacket and pants.

"Nice gear, Mack." Will said, giving him a nod.

"Are you going somewhere?" Ronny asked.

"In fact…I am." Mack replied. "That's what I gathered everyone for."

"Where're you going?" Rose asked, her eyes wide in excitement.

"Well…I'm not sure right now. But, I remembered something promised to me that I have to find. Something that was left for me a long time ago. I think I remember where it is, though. I think."

"I shall accompany you-"

"No." Mack stopped him. "It's just me, on my own. I think it would be better if it was just me and the S.H.A.R.C. for this trip."

"You can take my Gyro Driver, or the Sonic Streaker!" Dax insisted.

"No. You guys might need to fight without me, so I'm leaving them here with you guys if you need them. Like I said, I'm not quite sure where I'm going, so I might be gone for a while." Mack gave a mildly depressed look.

"Will you keep in touch with us?" Ronny asked, her voice sounding almost mouse-like.

"Of course. I'll call when I've got what I'm looking for, if you guys want."

"Is it an ancient treasure?" Dax asked.

"Well, it's a bit of an inheritance from mom and dad." Mack grinned.

"Ooh, sounds like a treasure to me!" Dax replied.

"We're gonna miss you so much!" Ronny said getting up and going over to him, embracing him tightly. He hugged her back with the same intensity. She whispered softly into his ear. "I'm glad I didn't listen to you. I'm glad I paid you back for saving me."

A smile spread across his face as she let go. Rose then smiled and handed him her history book. "I hope this helps you out."

"Thanks." Mack said, graciously taking it.

"Well, I don't have anything to give you, really…" Dax said. "Well, I have a book to give you for the ride." He handed Mack one of his Marvel Comic anthology books.

"Oh wow, I haven't seen this one yet!" Mack replied, his eyes widening. "Oh man, you know I'm gonna take some time to read this."

"I shall pack some alternate wardrobes for you, sir." Spencer said.

"Already beat you to it, Spencer." Mack smiled. He then bowed to the group. "Well, it's been fun, but I gotta go before you guys get all mushy on me and make me stay." He then turned around to see Hartford standing about twenty feet away from him.

The tension filled the air again as Hartford approached Mack. Mack met him halfway, a cold look on his face.

"Take care on your trip, okay?" Hartford tried to be cheerful about his situation, but he couldn't.

Mack grabbed his wrists and held his arms up for a few moments, letting a warmth pulse from his hands into Hartford's arms. After the warmth faded, Mack dropped Hartford's arms at his side. "Don't do anything stupid, Andrew." He chided, brushing past Hartford on his way to the S.H.A.R.C.'s holding bay.

Hartford held up his hand as Mack traveled out of sight, looking it over and trying to see through the gauze. "Hm…strange." He gave a quick gesture to Spencer, and the two headed downstairs.

A few days later…

"…And so I guess I wandered around Turkey all that time for nothing." Mack joked over the intercom.

"Hey, the Turkish Delight you sent us wasn't nothing! We had it for dessert last night, and it was delicious!" Ronny replied exuberantly.

"It was really sticky, though. Tyzonn got it stuck to the table…and the fridge…and the cabinets…" Rose jokingly listed.

"Well, I was looking for those wet hand towels that smell like lemons." Tyzonn replied.

"I don't think we have those here, do we?" Ronny asked Rose.

"Not that I can remember. Next time, just take a few napkins and get them wet with tap water."

"I shall keep that in mind." Tyzonn replied.

"Well, it's not a total loss. I figured out where I have to go this time."

"That's great to hear." Rose replied. "Has my book been helpful?"

"Well, it helped me figure out where I have to go next."

"That's great to hear. Tell us when you get there."

"I'll check back in when I finish." Mack replied.

The group left the room, save for Rose. She waited until it was only her and Mack, and he could tell that she was still there. "Do you need something still?"

"…That was a nice thing you did for Mr. Hartford." She replied solemnly.

"What?" Mack asked, a bit confused. He then realized what she meant. "Oh, the healing thing? I did it because I chose to, as any decent human being would do."

"I…hope this means that you two will work things out eventually." Rose replied.

"Maybe. There's no type of Hallmark card to fix things up between us, ya know. I've had time to really think about everything on this trip, and I feel a bit better about all of it but…" He shook his head.

"I understand. I just…can't stand to see you two so distant."

"Well, it'll be a while, Rose. But right now, my mind's just thinking about my trip."

"Right." Rose sighed. "I'll let you go then."

"Tell everyone that I'll pick up some hummus and feta cheese while I'm in Greece." Mack smiled.

"I will." Rose grinned. "Bye."

"Later." He closed the connection out.

An hour later…

"Alright…where to park…" Mack muttered as he approached the cliffs that he deduced the ruins existed. The now decrepit town of Pella was the birthtown of his 'father', and where else would a temple honoring one of the greatest kings in history exist other than his birthplace? Of course, this was his logic and it didn't necessarily have to be right, but this had to be the best place to restart his search.

He landed down in a rock quarry, getting into his Ranger uniform before opening the door and walking out into the center of the quarry. He pulled his Tracker out of the holder and began scanning the area. He doubted that it would work, but it was worth a try.

After a moment, he pointed the Tracker at a small mountain of crumbled rocks which reminded him if a ruined temple, and began getting a faint reading. His eyes widened as he walked closer. "Could it be…?" Mack wondered aloud. He ran over to the pile as the signal got stronger. It was still faint, but it was enough for him. He transformed into his Ranger suit and summoned his Drive Lance.

"Time to dig you up." Mack commented, channeling a large portion of his own energy into his Lance's blade. He then swung the lance, sending the solar energy out in a small arc, tossing the rubble aside and revealing a hidden staircase carved out of marble. "Alright!" He grinned and dropped out of transformation before making his way down the staircase.

He turned his Tracker's blacklight on to keep the corridors from being completely empty. He had read in Rose's book that an earthquake decimated the great city centuries ago, but somehow this particular place had managed to take very little damage, despite the area above it.

He looked around, trying to see any hidden passages, but could only see a blackness ahead of him with a faint light teasing him. "Alright, what's in there…" He began jogging down the hallway, the Tracker's signal beeping louder with every other step.

After four minutes of an intense run, he ended up in a dead end with a high ceiling. The signal was beeping as loud as it could get at this time, and Mack knew he had made it. He rolled up his sleeve and relit a torch by transferring some of his energy into it, then lit the other torches in the room until the room was bathed in a warm glow.

In the center of the room was a large bronze statue of a spearman, a sense of familiarity shining through the now-green metal. He looked it over, in awe of how beautiful and detailed the little things were, like the sandals with sapphires embedded in the wide foot straps and the pilum made with a quartz tip.

He looked the statue over entirely, suddenly noticing a sword sheath at the statue's side. It stuck out like a sore thumb, so he got up close and inspected it. He then realized that the sword's hilt was loose, so he tugged it lightly, getting very little resistance in return. He continued to pull the sword out until the tip of the blade was visible and it was then that he realized what it was.

"Alexander's battle sword…" His eyes widened as he pulled out his Tracker and scanned it. The scanner read his residual energy off of the blade, energy from him that he lasted over the millennia. "This's it…" Memories of Alexander and Berenice teaching him how to properly use the sword raced through his mind, and a warm and joyful feeling overcame him. "This's truly a gift…" He stood up and suppressed his urge to cry tears of joy, ones manifesting out of pure adoration and respect for his first caretakers.

He rolled the blade once to check its weight, finding that it hadn't lost an ounce of weight since he last held it. "I have to find a nice spot for you in the mansion…how about my room?" He asked the blade, half expecting it to reply.

He raced out of the old underground tunnel as fast as he could, anxious to return home to tell his comrades all about how important the sword was. As he emerged from the staircase, however, an icicle-covered staff blocked his exit. He looked over and up to see Flurious grinning.

"So… back to your old ways again I see." He quipped.

"Not quite. This's all for me." Mack replied, pushing the staff out of his way.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Flurious growled as Mack began jogging towards the S.H.A.R.C.

"It's none of your business." Mack replied as he approached the S.H.A.R.C.

"You haven't finished fulfilling my wish, Garnet Sun."

Mack grinned widely. "I have chosen not to. What I care about disagrees with what you want, so I'm not going to grant you it."

"You can't do that! It's against your very creation! The Corona Aurora and its Jewels are meant to serve those who possess them!"

"I am more than just a mere Jewel of the Corona. I have transcended and earned my freedom…my freedom of choice." Mack gave an odd look. "I suppose you could say that our contract is over."

Flurious fumed, and Mack could almost see the steam rushing off the tips of his ice-spiked head. Mack grinned and laughed softly. "I gotta say, that look fits you. I'm happy that the Corona, my brethren, and myself could make your inside show on the outside."

Flurious shot off an icy beam of energy at Mack, the blast exploding behind him nearly thirty feet away. "So you want to fight?"

"I'll crack that colorful candy shell of yours just like the Fearcats did!"

"Alright, you want to try?" He took off his coat and set it on the floor of the S.H.A.R.C.'s cockpit, then gingerly set the sword in the center. He then ran his Tracker's wheel down the length of the blade, hoping for a little luck to come his way as he transformed and quickly summoned his Drive Lance. "Get ready!" He charged at Flurious at top speed.

He spun his lance around in front of him, creating a strange sort of shield that deflected Flurious's energy blasts in all directions. He then, while still running, picked a large rock up with the clamps at the end of his lance, and continued running until he got about forty feet away. He then began to twirl himself about like a shot-put thrower; on his third spin he hit the release trigger and let the rock fly at Flurious's head.

The frigid leader fell for the ploy and put up his guard, shielding his face while Mack focused his Tracker's energy into his Drive Lance while starting up his charge again. As Flurious swatted the rock away, Mack stopped running and leaped into the air, the blade of his lance glowing red with energy.

"Redline Time!" Mack swung the lance and released a red arc of light with the force of a 40-ton truck behind it, knocking Flurious clear across the quarry.

The frosty adversary slowly got up and growled. "You haven't won yet!" He summoned a group of Chillers to give himself time to recover.

"Figures." Mack sighed. A few quick slashes and about thirty seconds of wasted time was all it took for Mack to easily hack through the frozen clay creatures. "Ready?"

Mack didn't see the ice blast coming, and the shot nailed him in the left shoulder, quickly disabling his entire left arm as well as his left shoulder, the left side of his neck, and part of the left side of his chest. He stumbled back in surprise and pain, as the ice burned and stung his body. "Ah! Ow…" He dropped out of transformation and slowly tried to make his way to the S.H.A.R.C. to give himself some time to burn through the ice. Every photon of sunlight he absorbed he focused back to the ice, trying desperately to get it off.

He reached the cockpit door and dropped to his knees as he began to feel the drain of all his excess energy usage. Flurious slowly walked towards him, laughing boldly. "I see a certain someone isn't such a loudmouth anymore!" He chided, making Mack wince in a mix of anger and pain. "I could help you by making the ice go away…if you submit to me." He said, looming over behind Mack.

Mack's instincts quickly took over, and he grinned. "No."

Before Flurious could think of something clever to say, Mack had already taken Alexander's sword out of the cockpit and, with all the strength he had left, cleaved straight through Flurious's staff and knocked him straight on his rear end about ten feet back. Mack squirmed his way into the cockpit. "Hate to end this party so soon, but I have better things to do than fight you."

Flurious laughed. "Ah, I've done enough with you today anyways…I shall crush you next time!"

Mack slowly closed the hatch and set the coordinates back to the docking bay, setting the S.H.A.R.C. on autopilot as he began futily folding his jacket into a pillow with one hand. He decided to just lean the chair back and rest with Alexander's sword resting safely across his lap, sheathed in his jacket.

Mack awoke to the sensation of the S.H.A.R.C. safely arriving in its bay. The left side of Mack's upper body was cold and numb, but had regained full mobility and was no longer encased in ice. As the S.H.A.R.C. gently rolled to a complete stop, he re-leveled the chair upright and picked the sword out of his lap.

He left the S.H.A.R.C. to find Ronny standing in the doorway leading into the hangar, a worried look on her face. Her eyes widened when she saw him all in one piece. "Mack!" She shouted running to him, arms out in preparation for a hug.

"Hey!" He replied back, opening up his arms as well. She jumped at him and he caught her, but nearly dropped the sword. "Careful now, I have sharp objects that may end up in someone's foot if you shake me too much." He joked.

"You feel so cold…what happened?" Ronny asked.

"Had a bad run-in with Frosty the Iceman, but I'm feeling fine now…" He sighed contentedly. "Nothing a good day out in the sun won't fix." He smiled warmly as Ronny let go of him.

"Well, you're in luck. We planned to have an outdoor picnic today and you're just in time." She walked a bit ahead of him, then turned around. "So c'mon! We're all waiting to see what you brought us!"

"Well, sorry about the hummus and cheese; I was in a bit of a hurry." He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"That's okay! We have a lot of food here anyways." She reached out and grabbed his hand, half-dragging him behind her.

In the hallway, they ran into Hartford, who had apparently taken off all of the now-unneeded gauze from his fully healed arms. Mack and Ronny stopped in the tracks as the awkward tension once again filled the air.

"Welcome home, Mack." He tried to give his warmest demeanor.

"Thank you, Mr. Hartford." Mack replied, feeling a twitch of something come forth when the warm look melted off of Hartford's face. He smiled softly as he continued. "I see that your arms are doing a lot better, and so is the rest of you."

"My arms are fine, but I think I might've caught a bit of pneumonia from all that coldness in Flurious's base." He smiled weakly.

"Ah. Well, hope you recover." Mack half-smiled and tugged on Ronny's hand, letting her know that he wished to leave. As Hartford stood in the middle of the hallway, now joined by Spencer, he found it impossible not to smile.

"Something funny, sir?" Spencer asked.

"No, I just…I think I'll be fine." Hartford replied. "I think I'm going to go out into town today."

"It is a very beautiful day to just drive around, if I may suggest so."

"A walk around the park would be nice. Or a drive. But I'd rather walk around."

"As you wish. I'll get the car." Spencer left as Hartford began walking towards the full-length windows that led out to the back yard.

He watched the group collectively surround Mack and mob him over his new keepsake, and Mack was all smiles as the group sat back down on the picnic towel as he stood over them, telling what looked to be tales of the sword's origin and significance.

He enjoyed seeing Mack surrounded by peace and happiness, even when he wasn't there to join in. Perhaps it was fate that things turned out as well as they did, he couldn't tell for sure. All Hartford knew was that, even though he had terminally crushed his relationship with Mack, maybe, someday…

"Sir, the car is ready." Spencer called out, drawing Hartford's attention.

"Right."

He could hear the chatter as he approached his car, and it sounded rather animated.

"I get the sword, run out of the underground hall, and guess who's there waiting for me once I reach the surface?"

"Who?"

"Flurious."

"What's that frosty old ingrate doing there?"

"He's mad that I didn't help him take over the world, and he's all like, 'You owe me! You have to do my bidding!', and I was just like, 'Listen, Icicles-For-Brains, I'm my own person. We're through!', and he just got so angry…"

Hartford smiled as he got into the back seat of his car. It sounded like everything was getting relatively back to normal.


End file.
